GC-MS analysis, phytochemical profiling, antioxidant, antibacterial and antibiofilm properties of Desmodium gangeticum leaf extracts in relation to staphylococcus aureus: In vitro and in silico studies.

UNLABELLED: A significant surge in antimicrobial resistance has rendered the researchers to explore alternative management strategies based on medicinal plants to combat with sturdy infectious agents including biofilm forming strains. Desmodium gangeticum (DG) is employed as traditional medicine having significant pharmacological properties. Therefore, in this study, plant leaf extracts prepared in acetone, ethyl acetate and methanol were analysed to explore its phytochemical composition, antioxidant potential, antibacterial activity, antibiofilm property along with molecular docking studies of GC-MS based compounds. The antioxidant analyses collectively suggested that the methanolic extract had the highest antioxidant activity with an IC50 concentration of 84.37 ± 4.5 µg/mL against DPPH with antioxidant capacity of 159.1 ± 13.68 µg ascorbic acid equivalent/mg of dried extract. The antibacterial and antibiofilm evaluation of the extract revealed that ethyl acetate had the highest antibacterial activity with the lowest MIC (0.61 ± 0.2 mg/mL) with MBC of 3 mg/mL and the highest biofilm disruption (88.95 ± 0.77%). The phytochemical analysis through GC-MS of the DG extracts unveiled the presence of several phytochemicals including pharmacologically active compounds - lupeol, squalene, Vitamin E, stigmasterol, palmitic acid, 1-(6-fluoro-1 H-indol-3-yl) propan-2-amine, and alpha-tocospiro B. In-silico analyses of selected compounds identified by GC-MS demonstrated high binding affinity against important S. aureus proteins viz. accessory gene regulator A, accessory gene regulator C, clumping factor A, clumping factor B, dehydrosqualene synthase, fibronectin-binding protein A, penicillin binding protein 2 and Staphylococcus accessory regulator A. The in vitro and in silico findings could suggest that D. gangeticum extracts had significant antibacterial and antibiofilm activities, and has potential as natural source of lead compounds for developing alternative therapeutic strategies against multidrug-resistant S. aureus. However, further pharmacological and clinical validations are required to corroborate and strengthen the present findings. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-026-05032-2.