Sophora flavescens (Fabaceae), known as Kushen in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), has been used for millennia to treat fevers, dysentery, eczema, and inflammatory disorders. Phytochemical screening of five solvent extracts (hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone, methanol, and aqueous) revealed a distinct polarity-dependent extraction pattern, with carbohydrates, proteins, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, and glycosides exhibiting differential solubility, while alkaloids were predominantly recovered in organic phases. Quantitative estimation demonstrated that SF-EAE (ethyl acetate extract) possessed the highest total phenolic content (17.4 mg GAE/g DW) and total flavonoid content (11.2 mg QE/g DW), followed by SF-ME (methanol extract) with 14.7 mg GAE/g DW and 9.1 mg QE/g DW, and SF-AqE (aqueous extract) with 9.5mg GAE/g DW and 6.8 mg QE/g DW, while SF-HE (hexane extract) and SFAE (acetone extract) showed complete absence of flavonoids. Antibacterial evaluation revealed concentration-dependent activity, with SF-HE exhibiting remarkable efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (up to 14.0 mm zone of inhibition at 200 μg/mL) despite containing no phenolics or flavonoids, indicating the significant role of alkaloids against Gram-negative pathogens. In contrast, SF-EAE and SFME demonstrated superior activity against Bacillus subtilis, correlating strongly with their phenolic and flavonoid loads. SF-EAE and SF-ME exhibited the most potent antifungal activity (up to 14.5 mm at 200 μg/mL), with SF-AqE showing preferential activity against Aspergillus niger (9.6 mm) compared to Candida albicans (7.6 mm), suggesting selective efficacy of polar glycosides against filamentous fungi through hyphal growth interference. The DPPH radical scavenging activity was highest for SF-ME (83.19% at 100 μg/mL), whereas ABTS assay revealed SF-EAE as the most potent (72.35%), with SF-HE showing substantially enhanced ABTS activity (70.13%) compared to DPPH (60.24%). Hyaluronidase inhibition assay demonstrated SF-EAE as the most effective inhibitor (52.42% at 250 μg/mL), followed by SF-ME (49.35%), with SF-HE retaining considerable activity (32.34%). S. flavescens possesses multitarget therapeutic potential through synergistic action of diverse phytochemical classes flavonoid aglycones, phenolic glycosides, and alkaloids each contributing uniquely to antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, and enzyme inhibitory activities, thereby validating its traditional use in TCM. The study underscores the critical role of solvent selection in optimizing bioactive compound recovery, with ethyl acetate emerging as the solvent of choice for flavonoid aglycones, methanol providing comprehensive broad-spectrum extraction, and hexane selectively recovering lipophilic alkaloids with distinct bioactivity profiles against Gram-negative bacteria.

Keywords:Senna sophera L; Foliar micromorphology; anatomy; xylem element; microchemical study.