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Traditional medicine uses and knowledge is more famous and well documented in rural/remote areas in Pakistan and worldwide than the urban areas. The present effort was made to document the ethnomedicinal practices among the communities of Karachi city and provides the basis for the development of natural drug discovery. We are aware of no other quantitative ethnobotanical investigation on the use of medicinal plants in the study area prior to this study. For ethnobotanical data collection, 177 local informants and traditional healers were interviewed, using semi-structured interviews.Various quantitative indices such as relative frequency of citation (RFC), fidelity level(FL), use value(UV), and the Jaccard Index (JI) were applied to the documented data. The traditional medical uses of 97 plants species belonging to 47 families were reported. Solanaceae (seven taxa) followed by Boraginaceae and Fabaceae (six taxa each), Cucurbitaceae (five taxa); Amaranthaceae, Convolvulaceae, Malvaceae, Verbenaceae and Zygophyllaceae (four taxa each) were the leading families contributed with the highest number of taxa. The highest plant-used part was leaf, with 45 reports (28.84%), followed by fruit (15.38%). It was observed that the majority of species were used to treat stomach problems, respiratory issues, general wellness, skin conditions, liver-related conditions, and fever respectively. The ethnomedical findings reported in this study offer concrete proof of the Karachi city residents' use of therapeutic plants. The research also showed that the region's medicinal plants constitute a significant source of herbal medicines used to treat ailments. This survey can serve as a starting point for future scientific research to create new plant-based pharmaceuticals for the market.

27The current research work is focused on screening of antimicrobial, antioxidant, total phenolic, 28 total flavonoid, metal estimation and proximate potential of four parts (fruits, leaves, stem bark 29 and root bark) of S. xanthocarpum. Antimicrobial potential of dried crude extracts of S. 30 xanthocarpum were evaluated against two gram positive bacteria (S. aureus, P. vulgaris), three 31 gram negative bacteria (P. aeruginosa, K. pneumonia, E. coli), three fungi (A. flavus, F. solani, 32 R. stolonifer) and two yeasts (S. cerevisiae, C. albicans) by using disc diffusion assay. Five 33 organic solvents ranging from non-polar to highly polar were used for extraction of active 34 metabolites. Amongst all the parts of S. xanthocarpum tested, antimicrobial activity of methanol 35 extract of fruits (14.67±0.33) against P. aeruginosa, ethanolic extract of leaves against P. 36 vulgaris (14±0.58), stem bark methanolic extract against S. aureus (13±0.58) and stem bark 37 methanolic extract against P. vulgaris (17.67±0.33) were found to be more significant. All other 38 extracts also showed promising antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogens. Among fungal 39 pathogens, R. stolonifer and S. cerevisiae were found to be more sensitive to extracts of S. 40 xanthocarpum. Gram negative bacteria exhibited more resistance than gram positive bacteria. 41However, fungi were found to be more resistant than bacteria. All the extracts showed 42 antioxidant activity. However, methanol extract of stem bark of S. xanthocarpum with IC 50 value 43 of 0.323102 mg mL -1 showed maximum antioxidant potential. Total phenolic contents ranged 44 from 12.3541±1.73 to 23.2942±1.33 Pmol GA/ug. However, highest flavonoid content was 45 found in the stem bark extract (17.8480±1.75 ugRutin/ug) and lowest in leaves extract of S.46 xanthocarpum (2.4806±0.59 ugRutin/ug). Total metal contamination in four parts of Solanum 47 xanthocarpum (fruits, leaves, stem bark and root bark) was estimated by atomic absorption 48 spectroscopy and results showed Cadmium contamination in its stem bark and root bark, 3 49 Chromium contamination in leaves, stem bark and root bark, Copper and Magnesium 50 contamination in all parts of S. xanthocarpum and Maganese contamination in leaves critically 51 above the standard permissible limits. The proximate analysis of the Solanum xanthocarpum 52revealed that stem bark is a poor source of lipid (3.42%) and high carbohydrate (50.07%) and ash 53 (16.50%) contents. Whereas, root bark has highest wet moisture content (65%), dry moisture 54 content (20%) and lowest fiber (13%). Highest energy (285.455%), protein (8.32%), fat (9.79%) 55 and lowest amount of ash (13%) was found in fruits. This composition shows that the Solanum 56 xanthocarpum could be considered as a good source of carbohydrate, moisture and energy. 57 These results revealed that over all, methanolic extract of the S. xanthocarpum is richest in 58 phenolic, flavonoid and nutritional contents as well as most potent against bacterial and fungal 59 path...

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