PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND IN-VIVO ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF HYDROALCOHOLIC EXTRACT OF LUFFA ACUTANGULA (L) ROXB
Nandani Singh*, C. K. Tyagi, Prabhakar Budholiya
ABSTRACT
Natural products are always helpful in the maintenance of life and good health. Luffa acutangula (L) Roxb (L. acutangula Cucurbitaceae) ranges from central and eastern Asia to south eastern Asia and is commercially grown for its edible unripe fruits, which are cooked and eaten as vegetable in Bangladesh and many parts of India. It is commonly known as ridge gourd, sponge gourd or angled luffa, Karviturai in hindi and dodake in marathi. The plant possesses various medicinal properties such as treatment of jaundice, splenic enlargement and laxative. Inflammation is a reaction of a living vascularised tissue to an injury. Conventional or synthetic drugs used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases are inadequate, it sometimes have serious side effects. So number of herbal medicines is recommended for the treatment of inflammation that has no side effects. The present study is aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of L. acutangula on arrageenaninduced rat paw edema method in rats as for controlling inflammatory disorders. Acute toxicity of the extract (2000 mg/kg) was examined in Wistar rats for 14 days. Qualitative analysis of various phytochemical constituents and quantitative analysis of total phenolics and flavonoids were determined by the well-known test protocol available in the literature. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, alkaloids ect. The total phenolics content of L. acutangula extract was (0.897mg/100mg), followed by flavonoids (0.765mg/100mg) respectively. Hydroalcoholic extract up to 2000 mg/kg did not produce any toxic effects. The hydroalcoholic extract of L. acutangula (100 and 200 mg/kg) inhibited the inflammation induced by carrageenan in rats in a dose dependent manner. The hydroalcoholic extract of L. acutangula possesses a strong antiinflammatory activity and may be considered an interesting source of effective anti-inflammatory compounds.
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