Molecular Docking of Phytocompounds from Mentha Piperita Leaf Extract as Promising Inhibitory Agents against Candida Albicans’s Glucosamine-6-Phosphate Synthase

The Mentha piperita plant, also known as peppermint, is a perennial aromatic herb grown throughout most of the world and has long been utilized in traditional medicine. It is a member of the Lamiaceae family. This study aimed to assess and determine the active phytochemical components of Mentha piperita leaf extract that inhibit the glucosamine-6-phosphate synthase activity of Candida albicans. The plant materials were collected from Janyau, Gada Biyu area along Sokoto Road, Gusau, Zamfara state, Nigeria, and identified at the herbarium section of the Biological Science Department, Federal University Gusau. The plant leaf was extracted using the soxhlet method and analyzed for the presence of phytochemical constituents. To identify the bioactive compounds in the extracts of Mentha piperita, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was used on glass slides coated with silica gel (0.2mm Kiesel-gel 60 F254, Merck). The resulting fraction was then analyzed using HPLC-DAD analysis and the Bioautography Agar Overlay Technique. Phytochemical analysis results showed the presence of flavonoids, glycosides, phenol, tannins, saponins, and alkaloids as secondary metabolites. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) separation of aqueous extracts provided one compound with an Rf value of 0.52, while methanol and n-hexane extract showed two compounds, each with Rf values of 0.79 and 0.74, 0.72 and 0.70. As bioautography shows, the most bioactive component among the five components is M1. In conclusion, the bioactive constituents identified by high-performance liquid chromatography are rutin, chlorogenic acid, neohesperidin, rosmarinic acid, and eriodictyol.