Phytochemicals of Boswellia serrata and Crocus sativus as natural scaffolds for β -lactamase inhibition

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health challenge that necessitates the development of further studies to overcome resistance mechanisms. In this study, phytochemicals of Boswellia serrata and Crocus sativus were investigated as promising natural scaffolds to β-lactamase inhibition. To our knowledge, this is the first study, the isolated compounds were virtually screened against β-lactamase enzymes (Classes A-D) using molecular docking and also confirmed using experimental approach. Among the screened compounds, picrocrocin showed the strongest affinity across Class A, Class B and Class C β-lactamases as compared to the reference inhibitor Tazobactam. The purified compounds were further evaluated through nitrocefin based colorimetric assay against β-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae strain BLR01. Picrocrocin and Serratol inhibited β-lactamase by 57.4 ± 2.77% and 56.1 ± 1.88%, respectively at 200 μM. These findings identify phytochemicals from Boswellia serrata and Crocus sativus as promising natural scaffolds for further investigation as β-lactamase-targeting agents.