REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Phytochemical screening
Phytochemicals are chemical compounds formed during the plants normal
metabolic processes. These chemicals are often referred to as Secondary
metabolites of which there are several classes including alkaloids, flavonoids,
coumarins, glycosides, polysaccharides, phenols, tannins, terpenes and terpenoids
(Okwu, 2004). In addition to these substances, plants contain other chemical
compounds. These can act as agents to prevent unconsiderable side effects of the main
active substances or to assist in the assimilation of the main substances. Plants have
an almost limitless ability to synthesize aromatic substances, mainly secondary
metabolites of which 12,000 have been isolated, a number estimated to be less than
10% of the total (Mallikharjuna et al., 2007).
Faraz et al. (2003) carried out phytochemical screening in fifty five Iranian
plants belonging to 21 families. Wang et al. (2003) isolated the active principles from
selected Chinese herbs and used Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometric analysis
for structure elucidation. Theeshan et al. (2005) studied the phytochemical
constituents of Cassia fistula. Falodun et al. (2006) reported the occurrence of
flavonoids, saponins, diterpenes and phorbol estersin in the aqueous and methanol
extracts of Euphorbia heterophylla. Two new homoisoflavonoids were isolated from
Caesalpinia pulcherrima by Maheswara et al. (2006). Raghavendra et al. (2006)
examined different solvent extracts of the powdered leaf of Oxalis corniculata and
reported the presence of phenols, glycosides, carbohydrates, phytosterols and tannins.
Rahaman et al. (2006) reported 3, 5, 7, 4-tetrahydroxy flavone from the leaves of
Cassia alata.

10

Awoyinka et al. (2007) isolated eight bioactive compounds from the water and
ethanol extracts of dried leaf of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius. Sixty two compounds were
identified by Chowdhury et al. (2007), from the leaves of Lantana camara using
GC-MS technique. Different extracts of Semecarpus anacardium were analysed by
Mohanta et al. (2007) for their phytochemical properties. Onwukaeme et al. (2007)
detected reducing sugars, phenols, tannins and flavonoids in Pycanthus angolensis.
Uma Devi et al. (2007) carried out the phytochemical analysis in Achyranthes
bidentata. The methanol and acetone extracts of 14 plants belonging to different
families were evaluated to detect the presence of various phytochemicals by
Vaghasiya and Chanda (2007) and this study revealed the presence of tannins, cardiac
glycosides, steroids and saponins.
Arokiyaraj et al. (2008), by HPTLC finger print technique, evaluated
methanol extract of Pterocarpus santalinus leaf to detect the presence of various
phytochemicals. Ayoola et al. (2008) investigated the phytochemical components of
four medicinal plants used in the treatment of malaria in Southwestern Nigeria.
Ivana et al. (2008) used GC-MS technique to analyze the chemical composition of the
leaf extracts of Stevia rebaudiana. The extracts of two varieties of Aloe greatheadii
were examined, quantified and compared for the phytochemical contents using
GC-MS technique (Lisa et al., 2008). Suhad and Viorica (2008) conducted
quantitative analysis of the bioactive compounds (flavonoids) in Hibiscus sabdariffa.
Sathishkumar et al., (2008) screened the in vitro antioxidant properties of ethanol
extract of Canthium parviflorum leaves.
Mature and immature leaves and stems of eight plant species belonging
to 7 families were screened for alkaloids, saponins, tannins and total phenolics
contents by Abdulkabirkhan et al. (2009). Aiyelaagbe and Osamudiamen (2009)

11

screened Mangifera indica for its bioactive active compounds. Aurapa and Wandee
(2009) estimated total anthraquinone glycosides from the fresh and cooked leaves of
Senna siamea. Ayo et al. (2009) studied the phytochemicals present in the methanol
leaf extract of Cassia nigricans by GC-MS technique. Bhise and Salunkhe (2009), by
using TLC and HPTLC techniques, screened the phytochemical components from
Ashwagandha, Tulsi, Mulethi, Awala, Shatavari, Gokharu, Arjun, Giloy, Safed musli,
Kalimirchi, Haldi and Jaiphal. Qualitative analyses were carried out for detecting the
bioactive compounds present in Acalypha indica, Cassia auriculata, Eclipta alba and
Phyllanthus niruri (Chitravadivu et al., 2009).
The aerial parts of Hypericum perforatum were analysed to find out the
bioactive compounds (Gioti et al., 2009). Krishna et al. (2009) conducted preliminary
phytochemical studies and also estimated the total phenolics and flavonoid contents in
the methanol extract of Justicia gendarussa. A comparative phytochemical study
between six Malaysian medicinal plants, belonging to different families, was
carried out by Krishnaiah et al. (2009). Methanol extract of Ocimum basilicum
was analysed by TLC/HPTLC techniques to detect the phytochemicals by
Maria et al. (2009). The leaf, stem and root of Ichnocarpus frutescens were
investigated for their phytochemical properties by Mishra et al. (2009) Nadjet et al.
(2009) isolated and identified flavonoids from Chrysanthemum myconis. GC-MS
analysis of leaf extract of Cleistanthus collinus revealed the presence of a number of
phytochemicals (Parasuraman et al., 2009). Quantitative estimation of phytochemical
constituents from the wood of Caesalpinia pulcherrima was carried out using Camag
HPTLC system (Pawar et al., 2009).
Using HPTLC, Preeti et al. (2009) made qualitative and quantitative analyses
of phytochemical components in Leidium sativum. Ravirajsinh et al. (2009) conducted

12

both qualitative and quantitative studies for detecting the phytochemical constituents
found in methanol extract of Clerodendron glandulosum. Sazada et al. (2009) studied
preliminary phytochemicals found in some important medicinal and aromatic plants.
Senthil Kumar and Venkatesalu (2009), using GC-MS technique, analysed the
phytochemical contents found in the leaf of Clausena anisata. Shafaghat et al. (2009)
extracted the essential oils found in the leaf, stem and root of Chrysanthemum
parthenium by distillation technique and studied phytochemicals by GC and GC-MS
methods. The results of GC-MS analyses of Mentha arvensis from three different
locations were compared by Sharma et al. (2009). Sirohi et al. (2009) evaluated
twenty one different herbal plants and their parts for total sugar, protein, tannin and
saponin contents using aqueous, methanol and acetone extracts. Tannins, saponins,
phlobatannins,

flavonoids,

anthraquinones,

terpenoids,

steroids,

alkaloids,

carbohydrates and glycosides found in four medicinal plants belonging to different

families were investigated and compared by Victor Njoku and Chidi (2009). Vikas
Kumar et al. (2009) examined the phytochemical properties of the leaves of Paederia
foetida.
The dried leaf aqueous and methanol extracts of Vernonia amygdalina, Carica
papaya, Persea americana and Cnidosculous aconitifolius were evaluated by Asaolu
et al. (2010) for their phytochemical constituents. Ayo (2010) evaluated the extract of
Cassia nigricans for determining the phytochemical constituents. The petroleum ether
and alcohol extracts of Symplocos racemosa were screened for evaluating the
phytochemicals by Devmurari (2010).

Hassanzadeh et al. (2010) obtained the

essential oils from the leaves of Cupressus lusitanica by hydro-distillation method

and their chemical nature were analyzed by GC-MS. Igwe et al. (2010) studied the
phytochemicals, minerals and vitamin A and vitamin C compositions found in the

13

leaves of Spondias mombin. Karthishwaran et al. (2010) conducted preliminary

phytochemical screening in Pergularia daemia. They also separated and identified
compounds from the crude leaf extract using TLC, HPLC and HPTLC. Khaled et al.
(2010) extracted and characterised twelve fatty acids from the aerial parts of
Beaumontia grandiflora. Phytochemical analysis was carried out using the leaf extract
of Andrographis stenophylla by Parasuraman et al. (2010). The leaves and fruits of
Pedalium murex were examined to evaluate the phytochemical components
(Sermakkani and Thangapandian, 2010). HPTLC fingerprint was drawn for the
phytochemicals derived from the methanol leaf extract of Acacia nilotica by
Venkataswamy et al. (2010). Teffo et al. (2010) isolated four types of keampferol
methyl esters from the leaves of Dodonaea viscosa var. angustifolia.
Abirami and Murugan (2011) quantified flavonoids in Cassia occidentalis by
HPTLC. Swertiamarin found in 60% methanol extract of Enicostemma littorale was
analysed by Alam et al. (2011) by high performance thin layer chromatographic
densitometric method. Phytochemical and pharmacognostic analyses were carried out
in Dolichandrone arcuata by Bojaxa and Henry Joseph (2011). Chao and Lin (2011)
isolated and identified the bioactive compounds in Andrographis paniculata.
Methanol leaf extract of Bombax malabaricum was screened for phytochemical
constituents by Hassain et al. (2011). Hema et al. (2011) evaluated the bioactive
components found in Murraya koenigii leaves using GC-MS. Jeeva et al. (2011)
identified the phytochemical constituents in the methanol flower extracts of Albizia
lebbeck, Cordia sebestena, Thunbergia grandiflora and Antigonon leptopus.
Joshi et al. (2011) examined the entire plant extract of Cyathocline lyrata for
phytochemical constituents by TLC and HPLC. Kiruba et al. (2011) studied the
phytochemical analysis of various solvents extracts of the flower of Rhododendron

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arboretum Sm. spp. nilagiricum. Laitonjam et al. (2011) isolated and compared the
chemical constituents present in the leaves of Cissus adnata and roots of Smilax
lanceiefolia.

Mamatha (2011) collected Andrographis paniculata from different

geographical locations in India and quantified andrographolide by HPTLC. Maria

Jancy Rani et al. (2011) identified possible chemical components present in the leaves
of Lantana camara by GC-MS method. Momoh et al. (2011) studied the
phytochemical composition of leaf of Costus afer using the methanol extract.
Nezhadali and Baghan (2011) followed solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) and
gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques for analysing volatile compounds
present in the leaves of Malabila isfahanica. Pascaline et al. (2011) screened some
medicinal plants used by the Nandis of South Nandi District, Kenya to find out the
phytochemical constituents. Zizyphus nummularia leaves were screened by
Raghvendra et al. (2011) for detecting the phytochemicals.
Sarumathy et al. (2011) studied the biochemicals present in Caesalpinia
sappan by GC-MS. Extraction, isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds
from some plants were done by Sasidharan et al. (2011). Savita and Prakashchandra
(2011) developed a sensitive HPTLC method for the estimation of wedelolactone in
different extracts of Eclipta alba. Sharafzadeh et al. (2011) isolated essential oils
from the leaf and stem of Melissa officinalis, by GC and GC-MS method. Sivaraj et
al. (2011) conducted preliminary phytochemical screening using five different
solvents extracts of Aegle marmelos, Ruta graveolens, Opuntia dillenii, Euphorbia
royleana and Euphorbia antiquorum. Phytochemical profiling of Mimosa pudica
was carried out by Sriram et al. (2011). Sukumaran et al. (2011) identified the
phytochemical constituents of methanol extract of flower of Peltophorum

15

pterocarpum. Phytoconstituents found in Tridax procumbens were isolated and

characterized by Surendra and Talele (2011).
Various organic solvent extracts of Pedalium murex were subjected
to preliminary phytochemical screenings by Thamizh Mozhi et al. (2011).
Thenmozhi et al. (2011) identified the phytochemicals present in methanol extracts of
Eclipta alba and Emilia sonchifolia using HPTLC and FTIR. Vaghasiya et al. (2011)
conducted preliminary phytochemical screening and estimated total phenolics and
flavonoid contents in 5 traditionally used medicinal plants from western region
of India. Quantitative determination of phytochemicals, by HPTLC, was done by
Verma et al. (2011) in Eucalyptus hybrida leaves. Using thin layer chromatography
technique, Vladimir-Knezevic et al. (2011) estimated the flavonoid, phenolic
acid and tannin contents, in three selected species of Micromeria growing in Croatia.
Yamunadevi et al. (2011) investigated alkaloids profile of Aerva lanata using
HPTLC.
Bajaj et al. (2012) reported the phytochemicals present in the methanol extract
of Achyranthes aspera. Johnson et al. (2012) reported the phytochemical constituents
present in the methanol flower extracts of Helicteres isora, Spathodea campanulata,
Antigonon leptopus and Thunbergia grandiflora. The crude leaf extracts of Pteridium
aquilinum were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening by Kardong et al.
(2012). Manohar et al. (2012) reported the phytochemicals present in the ethanol and
methanol extract of fruit of Terminalia bellerica. Narasimhan and Mohan (2012)
studied the preliminary phytochemical constituents of Sesamum indicum seed.
Nirupama et al. (2012) identified the phytochemical constituents in aqueous and
methanol extract of various parts of Aegle marmelos using HPTLC. The different
solvent extracts of Kirganelia reticulata leaves were screened for their phytochemical

16

constituents by Shruthi et al. (2012). Agnel Ruba et al. (2013) carried out preliminary
phytochemical analysis of Arthocnemum fruticosum leaf using five different solvents.
Packia Lincy et al. (2013) conducted the preliminary phytochemical study of
Ventilago maderaspatana whole plant, using different solvents.
Antioxidant activity
Antioxidant activities of 23 Iranian Ocimum accessions were studied by
Javanmardi et al. (2003). Chen et al. (2004) used microplated ABTS (2,2-azino-bis[3-ethylbenzothiazoline- 6-sulphonic acid]), H2O2 and HRP (Horseradish peroxide)
system for evaluating total antioxidant activity of several popular vegetables and
traditional Chinese herbals. An in vitro survey for the antioxidant potentials of three
local Mediterranean food plant extracts (Cichorium intybus, Sonchus oleraceus and
Papaver rhoeas) was made by Schaffer et al. (2005). Pourmorad et al. (2006) carried
out a comparative study on the antioxidant potentials of some selected Iranian
medicinal plant extracts. The antioxidant properties of 25 edible tropical plants were
studied by Wong et al. (2006). Badami and Channabasavaraj (2007) studied the
in vitro antioxidant activities of thirteen medicinal plants collected from Western
Ghats of India.
Ademiluyi and Oboh (2008) studied the antioxidant activity of methanol leaf
extract of Viscum album. By using linolenic acid peroxidation and DPPH methods,
Effat et al. (2008) screened thirteen medicinal plant extracts for antioxidant activity.
Janat et al. (2008) prepared the crude extracts of stem and leaves of Adenia lobata and
Desmodium ascendens, root and leaves of Glyphea brevis and Palisota hirsuta and
analyzed antioxidant potentials using DPPH assay. Moni Rani et al. (2008) evaluated
antioxidant activities of methanol extract of Ixora coccinea by DPPH free radical
scavenging activity, reducing power and total antioxidant activity assays.

17

Rahman et al. (2008) using DPPH assay, confirmed free radical scavenging activity of
methanol leaf extract of Cassia sophera. Suresh Kumar et al. (2008) surveyed
antioxidant activities of Albizzia amara, Achyranthes aspera, Cassia fistula,
C. auriculata and Datura stramonium.
Aliyu et al. (2009) evaluated antioxidant potentials of Bauhinia rufescens leaf
extract by DPPH and reducing power assays. Amal Kumar et al. (2009) evaluated the
antioxidant potentials of leaf and bark of Azadirachta indica. Bushra et al. (2009)
prepared four solvent extracts of the leaves of Terminalia arjuna and Aloe
barbadensis by adopting two extraction techniques and observed their antioxidant
activities. Devi et al. (2009) evaluated the antioxidant activity of Nephellium
lappaccum. Demiray et al. (2009) screened the leaves of Tilia argentea and Crataegi
folium and roots of Polygonum bistorta for their antioxidant properties. Jaleel (2009)
evaluated the antioxidant potentials of leaf and root tissues of Withania somnifera.
Laetitia and Christian (2009) studied antioxidant activity of Crithmum maritimum.
The methanol leaf extracts of Aegle marmelos, Abroma augusta, Lagersroemia
speciosa, Cassia fistula, Anthocephalus chinensis and Syzygium cumini were
evaluated for their antioxidant potentialities by Laizuman et al. (2009).
Ljiljana et al. (2009) studied the antioxidant activity of Hieracium pilosella extracts.
Methanol and aqueous leaf extracts of Martynia annua were evaluated by
Nagda et al. (2009), for their antioxidant abilities, using various in vitro systems like
reducing power assay, DPPH radical scavenging activity, nitric oxide scavenging
activity, H2O2 radical scavenging activity, superoxide radical scavenging assay and
hydroxyl radical scavenging activity. Nazin and Hasan Nur (2009) used the methanol
leaf and flower extracts of Lippia alba to determine antioxidant activities by DPPH
and reducing power assay. A comparative study on the antioxidant potentials of four

18

varieties of Solanum melongena was evaluated by Nisha et al. (2009), by DPPH

radical scavenging activity, total reducing power assay, superoxide radical scavenging
activity and metal chelating activity.
Using five in vitro assays, Patel et al. (2009) investigated the antioxidant
activities of the methanol extract of Grangea maderaspatana. Total phenolic contents
were also determined by them to evaluate the relationship between the antioxidant
activity and the phytochemical constituents. Rajendra and Shakti (2009) prepared
various extracts of medicinal plants from Tripura and screened them for free radical
scavenging activity. Ramesh et al. (2009) made a comparison between the antioxidant
activities, total phenolic and total flavonoid contents of the leaves, latex and roots of
field grown and in vitro raised Calotropis procera. The methanol extract of Portulaca
oleracea was evaluated for its antioxidant activity by DPPH free radical scavenging
activity, reducing power by FeCl3, nitric oxide free radical scavenging activity and
superoxide scavenging activity (Sanja et al., 2009). Antioxidant activities of Mentha
piperita, Origonum vulgare and Capsicum annum were determined by Univer et al.
(2009). In vitro antioxidant activity of Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract was
investigated by Rachh et al. (2009). Vidyadhar et al. (2010) determined the in vitro
antioxidant activity of chloroform extract of aerial parts of Securinega leucopyrus.
The antioxidant capacity of leaf, stem and fruit extracts of Andrographis paniculata
was investigated by Arash et al. (2010). Ayesha et al. (2010) assessed the antioxidant
ability of the methanol leaf extract of Muntingia calabura.
Dheeraj et al. (2010) assessed the antioxidant potentials of different dried parts
of Cassia sophera. Gayathri Devi et al. (2010) studied in vitro antioxidant activities
of leaves and stem of Aristolochia indica. Methanol extracts of Carica papaya leaf,
Fagara zanthoxyloides root, Cajanus cajan seed, and Parquetina nigrescens leaf were

19

evaluated for their antioxidant activities by Imaga et al. (2010). Patel et al. (2010)
studied the total phenols, flavonoids and radical scavenging activities of certain
medicinal plants in Gujarat region. Paula et al. (2010) evaluated antioxidant
properties of Jacaranda puberula leaf extract. Pavithra et al. (2010) estimated
antioxidant activity of methanol extract of Evolvulus nummularius. The crude
methanol extracts of four Philippine medicinal plants viz., Brucea amarissima, Intsia
bijuga, Laportea meyeniana and Pipturus arborescens were examined by Peteros and
Uy (2010), for their antioxidant activities. Praveen Kumar et al. (2010) screened the
leaf extract of Vitex negundo for its antioxidant activity. Rekha et al. (2010) screened
the antioxidant activity of dry soup mix extracts containing Anethum sowa leaves.
The antioxidant activities of aqueous and methanol extracts of Erythrina
indica leaves were tested by DPPH, nitric oxide radical scavenging activity under in
vitro condition by Sakat and Juvekar (2010). Shajiselvin and Kottai Muthu (2010)
examined in vitro antioxidant potentials of various extracts of whole plant of Borreria
hispida by DPPH radical scavenging activity, Superoxide anion scavenging activity
and Iron chelating activity. The antioxidant capacity and total phenolic contents
present in the acetone and methanol extracts of different parts of Melothria
maderaspatana were evaluated by Sowndharajan et al. (2010).
Antioxidant potentials of methanol leaf extracts of Caesalpinia coriaria,
Flacourtia cataphracta, Hiptage benghalensis, Sesbania sesban, Persea macrophylla
and tubers of Gloriosa superba were analysed by Amutha and Shanthi (2011).
Gokhan et al. (2011) examined in vitro antioxidant activity and fatty acid composition
of Centaurea urvillei. Mishra et al. (2011) screened the extracts of ten Indian
medicinal plant species for their antioxidant activities. Antioxidant potentials of
Gynura procumbens, Achyranthes aspera and Polygonum tomentosum were studied

20

by Mon et al. (2011). The chloroform and methanol leaf extracts of 124 Egyptian
plant species belonging to 56 families were investigated and compared by
Moussa et al. (2011), for their antioxidant potentials.
Naveen Prasad et al. (2011) screened antioxidant potentials of some common
plants. Nithya and Balakrishnan (2011) screened 13 important medicinal plants for
their antioxidant properties. Panda et al. (2011) screened the in vitro antioxidant
activity of aerial parts of Cocculus hirsutus. Patil and Patil (2011) studied the in vitro
antioxidant activity of seeds of blue and white flowered varieties of Clitoria ternatea.
Using some in vitro antioxidant models like DPPH radical scavenging activity,
superoxide radical scavenging activity, ferric reducing power and hydrogen peroxide
scavenging activity, Priya et al. (2011) studied the antioxidant activity of aqueous,
ethyl acetate, ethanol and methanol extracts of Caralluma fimbriata. Sathisha et al.
(2011) determined antioxidant potentials of Curcuma longa, Coffea arabica, Tribulus
terrestris, Moniera cuneleolia and Trigonella foenumgraecum using various in vitro
assays. Antioxidant potentials of root, stem, leaf and tuber of Coleus forskohlii was
analysed by Selima et al. (2011). Sengul et al. (2011) analysed the antioxidant
activities of Artemisia santonicum and Saponaria officinalis, the native Turkish
medicinal and aromatic plants. Stankovic et al. (2011) derived twenty different
extracts from stem, leaf and flower of Teucrium montanum and determined their
antioxidant activities. . Sudha et al. (2011) screened the in vitro antioxidant activity of
fresh fruit of Solanum muricatum. Venkateshwarlu et al. (2011) studied the in vitro
and in vivo antioxidant activity of methanol extract of Solena amplexicaulis
Alsabri et al. (2012) reported the in vitro antioxidant activities of aerial parts
of Cistus incanus, C. parviflorus, Helianthemum lippii, Arbutus pavarii, Capparis
spinosa,

Rhamnus

alaternus,

Quercus
21

coccifera

and

Globularia

arabica.

Various fractions of the hydromethanolic extract of the roots of Coccinia grandis

were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activity (Bhadauria et al., 2012).
Christabel et al. (2012) carried out in vitro antioxidant studies and scavenging
potential of Prunus persica fruit pulp and peel. In vitro antioxidant activity of ethanol
(70%), methanol, ethyl acetate and hexane extracts of Synadium grantii were
investigated by Dasari et al. (2012). The antioxidant activities of methanol and
aqueous extracts of 31 medicinal wetland plants in Taiwan were investigated by
Ho et al. (2012). In vitro antioxidant potentials of methanol extracts of different parts
of Sauropus bacciformis were screened by Jenecius et al. (2012). Mudoi et al. (2012)
studied the in vitro antioxidant activity of Garcinia pendunculata. Narayanasamy and
Ragavan (2012) studied the antioxidant potentials of Zanthoxylum tetraspermum stem
bark by superoxide anion radicals, hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide and DPPH
radical scavenging activity. Paulpriya and Mohan (2012) reported the antioxidant
activity of methanol extract of Dioscorea oppositifolia tuber. Ganga Rao et al. (2012)
evaluated the in vitro antioxidant activity of methanol leaf extract of Entada
pursaetha using superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical and DPPH radical scavenging
methods. Sakthidevi and Mohan (2012) made a comparative in vitro free radical
scavenging activities of Polygala javana, P. chinensis and P. rosmarinifolia. The
antioxidant potential of different solvent extracts of Crataeva magna were evaluated
using DPPH, ABTS, superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide radical
scavenging activities and lipid peroxidation inhibition assay (Sridhar et al., 2012).
In vitro antioxidant activities of various parts of Cinnamomum cassia extracted with
different extraction methods were evaluated by Yang et al. (2012). Agnel Ruba et al.
(2013) studied the antioxidant potential of leaf of Arthocnemum fruticosum using
different models like DPPH, hydroxyl, superoxide and ABTS radical cation

22

scavenging activity. Balamurugan et al. (2013) studied the in vitro antioxidant activity
of Melastoma malabathricum.
Anticancer activity
Cancer, the second leading cause of death worldwide next to cardiovascular
diseases, is a group of more than 100 different diseases, characterized by uncontrolled
cellular growth, local tissue invasion and distant metastases (Dashroa et al., 2010).
Cancer is the cause of more than six million deaths each year in the world. In 2001,
about 1,268,000 new cancer cases and 553,400 deaths were reported in the United
States (Izevbigie, 2003). It can be treated with surgery, radiation, chemotherapy,
hormone therapy and biological therapy. Chemotherapy is still a major challenge to
the cancer patients because such highly potent drug can be toxic and less than 1% of
injected drug molecules can reach their target cells whereas the rest may damage
healthy cells and tissue especially bone marrow, epithelial tissues, reticulo-endothelial
system and gonads (Kathiriya et al., 2010). Since medieval times, plants have been
the source of medicines for the treatment of diseases. Regardless of the availability of
a wealth of synthetic drugs, plants remain-even in the 21st century-an integral part of
the health care in different countries, especially the developing ones. In the late 90s,
the WHO stated that a big percentage of the worlds population depends on plant
based therapies to cover the needs of the primary health care (WHO, 1999; Dikshit
et al., 2004). The areas of cancer and infectious diseases have a leading position in
utilization of medicinal plants as a source of drug discovery. Among FDA approved
anticancer and antiinfectious preparations drugs of natural origin have a share of 60%
and 75% respectively (Newman et al., 2003). It is worthy to mention the vivid current
interest in discovery of natural drugs for cancer treatment and chemoprevention

23

(Kucuk, 2002; Balunas and Kinghorn, 2005). Huge number of plant species is
screened and bioassayed for this purpose worldwide (Richardson, 2001).
Another important addition to the anticancer drug armamentarium is the class
of clinically-active agents derived from camptothecin, which is isolated from the
Chinese ornamental tree Camptotheca acuminata Decne (Nyssaceae), known in China
as the tree of joy. The derivatives of Camptothecin, Topotecin and Irinotecan, were
originally developed by Japanese company, YAKUH Honsha, are now in clinical use.
These are used for the treatment of ovarian lung cancer and colorectal cancers (Cragg
and Newman, 2004/Rev.2006).
Other plant derived agents in clinical use are homoharringtonine, isolated
from the Chinese tree Cephalotaxus harringtonia var. drupacea and elliptinium a
derivative of the ellipticine, isolated from species of several genera of the family
Apocynaceae, including Bleekeria vitensis have reputed anticancer properties (Cragg
and Newman, 2004/Rev.2006).
Some medicinal plants have been found effective in various types of
malignant (cancer) and benign tumors of humans and experimental animals. These
include: Agrimonia pilosa in sarcoma-180; Ailanthus altissima in intestinal cancer,
sarcoma-180, sarcoma-37 and leukaemia-16; Akebia quinata in sarcoma-180 and
sarcoma-37; Chelidonium jajus var. asiaticum in stomach cancer; Chimaphila
umbellata in breast tumor; Coix lachrymahjobi

in ascites cancer and Yoshidas

sarcoma; Fritillaria thunbergii in tumors of the throat, chest, neck and breast; Larrea
tridentata in various cancers, especially leukaemia; Lonicera japonica in ascites
carcinoma and sarcoma-180; Nidus vespae in gastric and liver cancer; Oldenlandia
diffusa in leukaemia, Yoshidas sarcoma, sarcoma-180 and Ehrlichs ascites sarcoma

24

(EAS); Patrinia heterophylla and P. scabiosaefolia in ascites cancer; Phaleria

macrocarpa in oesophageal cancer; Polygonum cuspidatum in sarcoma-180; Pteris
multifida in sarcoma-180, sarcoma-37 and Yoshidas sarcoma; Pygeum africanum in
prostate cancer; Pyrus malus in lung, colon, breast and intestinal cancer; Scutellaria
barbata in sarcoma-180 and Ehrlichs ascites carcinoma; Smilax chinensis and
S. glabra in sarcoma-180 and ascites sarcoma; Solanum lyrati in sarcoma-180,
sarcoma-37, Ehrlichs ascites carcinoma and stomach cancer; Sophora flavescens and
S. subprostrata in sarcoma-180, leukaemia and cervical cancer-14 cells; Taraxacum
mongolicum in ascites cancer, sarcoma-180 and lung cancer cells and Vitex
rotundifolia in lung tumor (Hsu, 1990; Hecht et al., 1990; Pan, 1992; Chang, 1992;
Boik, 1995; Han and Xu, 1988; Eberhsrdt et al., 2000; Prajapati et al., 2003;
Faried et al., 2007).
The methanolic extract of Caesalpinia bonducella leaves were evaluated for
antitumor activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing Swiss albino mice
(Gupta et al., 2004). Antitumor activity of methanol extract of Bauhinia racemosa
stem bark was evaluated against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma tumor in mice (Gupta et
al., 2004). Rajeshwari et al. (2005) reported the antitumor activity of Mucuna
pruriens seeds against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in Swiss albino mice. Zahran et al.
(2005) studied the antitumor activity of aqueous extract of Salix safsaf against two
types of tumors, Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells (EACC) and acute myeloid leukemia
(AML).
Dongre et al. (2007) reported the antitumor activity of methanol extract of
Hypericum hookerianum stem against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in Swiss albino mice.
Pradhan et al. (2008) studied the methanolic extracts of Foeniculum vulgare and
Helicteres isora against normal human blood lymphocytes by micronucleus assay and
25

antitumor activity against B16F10 melanoma cell line by trypan blue exclusion assay
for cell viability and found out that 70% methanolic extract of Foeniculum vulgare
showed good antitumor activity and 50% methanolic extract of Helicteres isora
exhibited good antitumor activity. They concluded that Foeniculum vulgare and
Helicetres isora could be considered as normal resource of antitumor agents.
The methanol extract of Zingiber officinalis was evaluated for anticancer activity
against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (Hanafy, 2009). Some Egyptian medicinal plants
such as leaves of Luffa aegyptiaca, Solenostemma argha, Cassia italica, Ocimum
basillicum, Colocasia antiguorum, Beta vulgaris and fruits of Capsicum frutescens
were evaluated for in vitro anticancer activity against Acute Myeloid Leukemia
(AML) and Acute Lymphocyte Leukemia (ALL) and in vivo anticancer activity
against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (Nasar-Allah et al., 2009). The anticancer activity
of hydro-distilled essential oils obtained from flowers of Matricaria chamomilla and
the dried leaves of Marjorana hortensis against leukaemia HL-60 and NB 4 cells
were tested in vitro by Romeilah (2009), and the results obtained by him proved that
the essential oils of above plants could be used as a potential natural antioxidant and
anticancer agents.
. Bala et al. (2010) reported the anticancer activity of Cleome gynandra in
Swiss albino mice against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cell line. Forty four extracts from
sixteen plants, used traditionally as anticancer agents, were evaluated in vitro for their
antiproliferative activity against Hep-2, MCF-7 and Vero cell lines. Twenty of these
extracts demonstrated significant antiproliferative activity against one or more of the
cell lines. Among the tested extracts, methanol fractions of Ononis hirta aerial parts
and Irula viscosa flowers were the most active fractions against MCF-7 cells, (Talib
and Mahasneh, 2010).
26

Anbu et al. (2011) studied the anticancer activity of petroleum ether extract of
Abrus precatorius seed against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice. Jeevanantham et al.
(2011) studied the anticancer activity of methanolic extract of aerial part of
Momordica cymbalaria against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice. The ethanol
extracts of Eugenia flocossa and Eugenia singampattiana leaves were evaluated for
anticancer activity against Dalton Ascites Lymphoma in Swiss albino mice (Kala et
al., 2011). Mahadik (2011) studied the antitumor and antioxidant activity of ethanolic
extract of Vitis vinifera leaves against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma induced Swiss albino
mice on dose dependent manner. The ethanolic extract of leaves of Butea
monosperma was evaluated for its anticancer activity against Ehrlich ascites
carcinoma in Swiss albino mice (Rekha and Jayakar, 2011). The methanol extract of
Cucurbita maxima aerial parts was evaluated for its antitumor activity against Ehrlich
ascites carcinoma model in mice (Saha et al., 2011).
Islam et al. (2012) studied the anticancer activity of petroleum ether extracts
of Eucalyptus camaldulensis against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. Anticancer activity of
methanolic flower extract of Tecamo stans was evaluated using both in vivo and in
vitro methods (Kameshwaran et al., 2012). Kota et al. (2012) reported the anticancer
activity of various concentrations of ethanolic extract of the leaves of Achyranthes
bidentata against DAL and EAL cell lines. Lalee et al. (2012) reported the anticancer
activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Aerva sanguinolenta against Ehrlich
ascites carcinoma cells induced Swiss mice. Marappan and Subramaniyan (2012)
reported the antitumor activity of methanolic extract of Cynodon dactylon leaves
against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice. The ethanol extract of Madhuca longifolia
leaves were evaluated for its anticancer activity Ehrlich ascites carcinoma in mice
(Sangameswaran et al., 2012). The acetone and ethanol extracts from the leaves of
27

Adina cordifolia were evaluated for anticancer activity against Ehrlich ascites
carcinoma bearing Swiss albino mice (Sangameswaran and Saluja, 2012).
The ethanol extracts of P. chinensis, P. rosmarinifolia and Polygala javana whole
plants were evaluated for anticancer activity against DAL bearing mice (Alagammal
et al., 2012 a, b; 2013).
Antidiabetic activity
Diabetes mellitus is a clinical syndrome characterized by inappropriate
hyperglycemia caused by a relative or absolute deficiency of insulin or by a resistance
to the action of insulin at cellular level. It is the most common endocrine disorder,
affecting 16 million individuals in the United States and more than 150 million
worldwide. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the condition arising due to abnormal
metabolism of carbohydrate, proteins and fats. It is caused by insulin deficiency, often
combined with insulin resistance. This disorder occurs worldwide and its occurrence
is increasing quickly in most of the countries. Various complications develop as a
consequence of the metabolic derangement in diabetes type-2. The treatment of DM is
based on parental insulin and oral anti-diabetic drugs. Oral hypoglycemic agents,
currently used, have serious side effects; hence there is a need to search for newer
anti-diabetic agents having high therapeutic efficacy with minimum side effects. This
may be fulfiled by treating DM with plant derived anti-diabetic agents.
Diabetes mellitus has been known since ages and the sweetness of diabetic
urine has been mentioned in Ayurveda by Sushruta. Its pharmacotherapy however is
over 80 years old. Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting around 2-3% of the
population worldwide. Unfortunately, after the introduction of sulfonylurea and
metformin about 50 years back, no major lead has been obtained in this direction of
finding a proper drug for diabetes. Plant materials which are being used as traditional
28

medicine to treat diabetes are considered to be one of the best sources for new drugs
or a lead to make new drugs. Plant extracts or different folk plant preparations are
being prescribed by the traditional practitioners and are accepted by the users for
diabetes, like for any other disease, in many countries especially in third world
countries. Now-a-days, more than 400 plants are being used in different forms for
hypoglycemic effects. Therefore, a proper scientific evaluation and screening of
plants by pharmacological tests followed by chemical investigations is necessary.
Diabetes is a disorder of metabolism, the way our body uses digested food for
growth and energy. Most of the food we eat is broken down into glucose, the form of
sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of fuel for the body. After digestion,
glucose passes into the bloodstream, where it is used by the cells for growth and
energy. For glucose to get into cells, insulin is essential. Insulin is a hormone
produced by pancreas, the large gland behind the stomach. When we eat, the pancreas
automatically produces the right amount of insulin to move glucose from blood into
our cells. In people with diabetes, however, the pancreas either produces little or no
insulin, or the cells do not respond appropriately to the insulin that is produced.
Glucose built up in the blood, overflows into the urine, and passes out of the body in
the urine. Thus, the body loses its main source of fuel even though the blood contains
a large amount of glucose.
The first stage in type-2 diabetes is the condition called insulin resistance;
although insulin can attach normally to receptors on liver and muscle cells, certain
mechanisms prevent insulin from moving glucose into these cells where it can be
used. Most type-2 diabetics produce variable, even normal or high amounts of insulin,
and in the beginning, this amount is usually sufficient to overcome such resistance.
Over time, the pancreas becomes unable to produce enough insulin to overcome

29

resistance. In type-2 diabetes, the initial effect of this stage is usually an abnormal rise
in blood sugar right after a meal (called postprandial hyperglycemia). This effect is
now believed to be particularly damaging to the body. Eventually, the cycle of
elevated glucose further impairs and possibly destroys beta cells, thereby stopping
insulin production completely and causing full-down diabetes. This is made evident
by fasting hyperglycemia, in which elevated glucose levels are present most of the
time.
Several medicinal plants have been used as dietary adjunct and in the
treatment of numerous diseases without proper knowledge of their function. Although
phytotherapy is continued to be used in several countries, a few plants have received
scientific or medical scrutiny. Moreover, a large number of medicinal plants possess
some degree of toxicity. For example, Marles and Farnsworth (1994) reported that
about one third of medicinal plants used in the treatment of diabetes are considered to
be toxic. Numerous animal studies have shown that the ethanol leaf and flower
extracts of Vinca rosea and Ficus racemosa lower the blood glucose levels (Ghosh
and Gupta, 1980).
The extract of Achyranthes aspera produced a significant dose-related
hypoglycemic effect in normoglycemic and alloxan induced diabetic rabbits.
The water and methanol extracts of this plant also decreased blood sugar levels in
these animals. This plant might be providing certain necessary elements like calcium,
zinc, magnesium, manganese and copper to the beta-cells (Akhtar and Iqbal, 1991).
Oral administration of Asteracantha longifolia extract significantly improved glucose
tolerance in healthy human and diabetic patients (Fernando et al., 1991).
S-allyl cysteine sulphoxide (SACS), a sulphur-containing amino acid of Allium
sativum, is the precursor of allicin and garlic oil. SACS had been found to show a

30

significant antidiabetic effect in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Administration of

alloxan induced diabetic rats, with SACS at the dose of 200 mg/Kg body weight,
significantly decreased the concentration of serum lipids, blood glucose and
activities of serum enzymes like alkaline phosphatase, acid phosphatase, lactate
dehydrogenase and liver glucose 6 phosphatase. It significantly increased the liver and
intestinal HMG CoA reductase activity and liver hexokinase activity (Sheela and
Augusti, 1992). Benjamin et al. (1994) reported that Catharanthus roseus could be
used as potential hypoglycemic agent because the leaf extract of this plant was found
to increase insulin and in the restoration of blood glucose and body weight to normal
levels. Saponin isolated from the leaves of Acanthopanax senticosus, when injected to
experimental mice, decreased hyperglycemia induced by injection of adrenalin,
glucose and alloxan without affecting the levels of blood sugar in untreated mice
(Sui et al., 1994).
Mukherjee et al. (1995) studied the effect of methanol extract of Nelumbo
nucifera on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and reported a decrease in glycemia.
The healthy rabbits were subjected to weekly subcutanaceous glucose tolerance test
after the gastric administration of water, tolbutamide or a traditional preparation of
Cuminum cyminum by Roman - Ramos et al. (1995), to study the antihyperglycemic
effect. The results showed that the gastric administration of C. cyminum significantly
decreased the area under glucose tolerance curve and the hyperglycemic peak.
Garg et al. (1997) reported that daily one time administration of the leaf
juice of Lantana camara, at different dose levels for 14 days in rats, resulted in an
alterations in various haematological and biochemical parameters. They observed that
1500 mg dose level had a strong hypoglycemic effect. Noor and Asherof (1998)
observed that Tinospora crispa stimulated insulin release via modulation of

31

intracellular Ca2+ concentration in pancreatic beta-cells.

Administration with the

extracts of Beta vulgaris var. cicla inhibited the increase in the non-enzymatic
glycosylation of skin proteins and blood glucose. These results demonstrated the
ability of this plant in preventing or at least retarding the development of some
diabetic complications (Tunali et al., 1998). Oral administration of with aqueous
extract of Tinospora cordifolia roots produced a significant decrease in glycemia and
brain lipids in alloxan induced diabetic rats (Stanley et al., 1999). The ethanol bark
and leaf extracts of Thespesia populnea were investigated for hypoglycemic effects in
streptozotocin induced diabetic rats and this was compared with glibenclamide,
a standard hypoglycemic agent; also measured the lipid peroxide, superoxide
dismutase and catalase enzymes level in the kidney of the animal. The root and aerial
parts extracts of Sida cordifolia showed hypoglycemic activity. Moreover, the
methanol root extract was found to possess significant hypoglycemic activity.
Several plant species such as Opuntia streptacantha, Trigonella foenum-graecum,
Memordica charantia, Ficus benghalensis, Polygala senega, Gymnema sylvestre,
Allium sativum, Citrullus colocynthis, and Aloe barbadensis were reported to possess
hypoglycemic properties (Atta-Ur-Rahman and Zaman, 1989; Ziyyat et al., 1997;
Bnouham et al., 2002).
Chattapadhyay (1999) reported that the leaf extract of Azadirachta indica
significantly blocked the inhibitory effect of serotonin on insulin secretion mediated
by glucose. Moreover, A. indica leaf extract was found to have the most potent blood
sugar lowering property followed by Catharanthus roseus, Gymnema sylvestre and
Ocimum sanctum (Chattapadhyay, 1993). Uma Devi et al. (2006) reported the
anti-diabetic and hyperlipidaemic effects of Cassia auriculata in alloxan induced
diabetic rats. Effect of Ficus carica leaf decoction, as a supplement to breakfast, was

32

studied in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) patients.

The methanol

leaf extract of Costus pictus was investigated for its antidiabetic effect in wistar albino
rats by Jothivel et al. (2007).

Pari et al. (2007) investigated the insulin

receptor-binding effect of Cassia auriculata flower extract in streptozotocin induced

diabetic male wistar rats.
The antidiabetic potentials of the whole plant petroleum ether, ethanol and
aqueous extracts of Phyllanthus fraternus was estimated in alloxan induced diabetic
albino rats (Garg et al., 2008). Noor et al. (2008) studied the antidiabetic activity of
Aloe vera in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and
ethanol extracts of Dendrophthoe falcata leaves were investigated for their
antidiabetic activity in alloxan induced diabetic rats by Tenpe et al. (2008).
Adebayo et al. (2009) demonstrated the anti-diabetic properties of aqueous
leaf

extract

of

Bougainvillea

glabra

on

alloxan

induced

diabetic

rats.

Murugan et al. (2009) studied the antidiabetic and hypolipidaemic activity of Mucuna
pruriens leaves in alloxan induced diabetic rats. The antidiabetic effect of Artemisia
judaica extract on alloxan induced diabetic rats was studied by Nofal et al. (2009).
Rajalakshmi et al. (2009) studied the anidiabetic properties of various extracts
(hexane, ethyl acetate and methonal) of Tinospora cordifolia against streptozotocininduced diabetic rats.
Gurjar et al. (2010) reported the antidiabetic activity of Anthocephalus
cadamba bark in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Kumar et al. (2010) studied the
antidiabetic activity of Euphorbia hitra stem, leaf and flower extracts against normal
and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Sharma et al. (2010) investigated the
antidiabetic activity of Ficus glomerata in alloxan induced diabetic rats.
Maruthupandian and Mohan (2011) studied the antidiabetic effects of ethanol wood
33

and bark extracts and combined wood and bark extract of Pterocarpus marsupium in
wistar albino rats. The ethanol leaf extract of Senna auriculata was investigated for its
antidiabetic

and

antihyperlipidaemic

activities

in

wistar

albino

rats

by

Shunmugasundaram et al. (2011). Alagammal et al. (2012c, d) investigated the effect

of whole plant ethanol extract of P. chinensis and P. rosmarinifolia for their
antidiabetic and antihyperlipidaemic effects in wistar albino rats. Halmi et al. (2012)
reported the antidiabetic activity of Opuntia ficus-indica. Kala et al. (2012) reported
the antidiabetic activity of Eugenia floccosa leaves in alloxan induced diabetic rats.
Manohar et al. (2012) studied the hypoglycemic and antihyperglyemic effects of
Moringa oleifera aqueous extract in normal and alloxan induced diabetic rabbits.
Neha et al. (2012) studied the antidiabetic activity of ethanol extract of Albizzia
lebbeck in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Ramachandran et al. (2012) reported the
antidiabetic, antihyperlipidaemic and in vitro antioxidant potentials of aqueous extract
of Anogeissus latifolia bark in type 2 diabetic rats. Potential antidiabetic effect of
Nymphaea pubescens tuber extract, in alloxan induced diabetic rats, was investigated
by Shajeela et al. (2012). Muthulakshmi et al. (2013) reported the antidiabetic,
antihyperlipidaemic and antioxidant activities of ethanol extract of leaf and bark of
Feronia elephantum on alloxan induced diabetic rats.
Hepatoprotective activity
Ayurvedic and other traditional medical practitioners of the world have
claimed for centuries that extracts from plants can be effectively used for the
alleviation of different types of liver diseases (Subramaniam and Pushpangadan,
1999). Most of the claims are however, anecdotal and a very few have received
adequate medical or scientific evaluation. Except for the use of appropriate vaccine
for the treatment of hepatitis caused by viral infection, a very few effective treatments
34

are available today to cure liver diseases. Therefore it is not surprising that a
considerable interest has been taken by researchers to examine their numerous
traditional plant remedies, used for treating liver disorders. In recent years,
investigations have been carried out to provide experimental evidences confirming
that many of these plants do have hepatoprotective properties (Sharma et al., 2003).
Mondal et al. (2005) reported that methanol extract of Diospyros malabarica
bark had a potent hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced liver
damage in rats. Dash et al. (2007) reported that chloroform and methanol entire plant
extracts of Ichnocarpus frutescens served as effective hepatoprotective agents in
paracetamol induced liver damage in rats. Iniaghe et al. (2008) reported that the
aqueous leaf extract of Acalypha racemosa served as an effective hepatoprotective
agent against CCl4 induced liver damage. Abdul-Razik et al. (2009) studied the effect
of ethyl acetate and n-butanol extracts and volatile oil of Juncus subulatus, in ethanolinduced hepatic injury in female rats and showed that all extracts served as potential
hepatoprotective agents. Jain et al. (2009) compared the hepatoprotective potentials
of ethanol and aqueous extracts of Amorphophallus campanulatus tubers using carbon
tetrachloride induced hepatic damage in rats. This study revealed that the ethanol
extract was more hepatoprotective than the aqueous extract.
Aqueous extracts of seeds of Areca catechu and nutgalls of Quercus infectoria
were investigated for their hepatoprotective activities against liver injury induced
by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats (Pithayanukul et al., 2009). Tiwari and Khosa
(2009) evaluated the hepatoprotective effects of aqueous and methanol extracts of
flower heads of Sphaeranthus indicus, a traditional Indian medicinal plant commonly
used to nourish and improve the liver conditions, on acetaminophen induced
hepatotoxicity in rats. Hepatoprotective activity of water and alcoholic extracts of

35

Luffa acutangula against carbon tetrachloride and rifampicin-induced hepatotoxicity

in rats was evaluated by Jadhav et al. (2010). Shyamal et al. (2010) reported that
ethanol root extracts of Ixora coccinea, Rhinacanthus nastus and whole plant
extract of Spilanthes ciliata served as potental hepatoprotective agents in aflatoxin
B1 intoxicated livers of albino male wistar rats. Ravikumar et al. (2011) reported
the hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract of Suaeda monoica leaves against
concanavation-A induced hepatoxicity in rats. Suky et al. (2011) reported the
hepatoprotective effect of Balanites aeyptiace against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in
rats. Banu et al. (2012) studied the hepatoprotective activity of methanol extract of
Barleria montana leaves against ethanol induced rat hepatic injury.
Gnanasekaran et al. (2012) reported the in vitro hepatoprotective activity of
ethanol extract of Indigofera tinctoria whole plant against CCl4 induecd
hepatotoxicity. Nishanthini et al. (2012) reported the hepatoprotective activity of
ethanol extract of whole plant Polycarpaea corymbosa against CCl4 induced
hepatotoxicity in rats. Methanol extract of root of Elephantopus scabes was evaluated
for their hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced liver damage
in rats (Sheeba et al., 2012). Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of Embelia tsjeriam fruit
were evaluated for their hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride induced
hepatoxicity in rats (Sudhir and Suhas, 2012). Ethanol extracts of whole plants of
Canscora perfoliata and Sarcostemma secamone were evaluated for hepatoprotective
activity against CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in rats (Thanga Krishna Kumari et al.,
2012 a, b). Nishanthini et al. (2013) reported the hepatoprotective activity of ethanol
extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaf against CCl4 treated rats. Sakthidevi et al.
(2013) studied the hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract of Polygala javana
whole plant against CCl4 treated rats.
36

Antifertility activity
Recently, efforts are being made to explore the hidden wealth of medicinal
plants for contraceptive use. With the exciting prospects of gene therapy, herbal
medicines remain one of the commonest forms of therapy available for much of
worlds population to maintain health and to treat diseases.
There has been a steady accumulation of information regarding the screening
of plants having anti-fertility efficacy (Hanshaw, 1953; Chopra et al., 1956;
Chopra et al., 1958; Casey, 1960; Bhakuni et al., 1969 and Farnsworth et al., 1975a;
1975b). The folklore information and the ancient literature about the herbals can help
antifertility program. In the recent past, various researchers have done a number of
works on plants and isolated, identified and evaluated active principles from different
parts of plants such as root, stem, leaves, flowers, seeds or stem barks. These reports
have been exhaustively reviewed by Orzechowski (1972); Brondegaard (1973);
Kholkute et al. (1976); Kamboj and Dhawan (1982); Zhu (1982) and Satyawati
(1983). A literature survey for the period of past 25 years (1980-2005) revealed that
there are about 105 plants possessing antifertility activity in males (Gupta and
Sharma, 2006).
Hadley et al. (1981) isolated gossypol, a yellow phenolic compound from
cotton seed oil and confirmed it as a male contraceptive drug. They found that
gossypol treatment reduced the level of serum testosterone and luteinizing hormone
levels. Gossypol acts directly on testes and induces azoospermia or oligospermia
(Xue, 1980; Xue, 1985 and Taitzoglou et al., 1999). A multi-glycoside extracted
from the root xylem of Tripterygium wilfordii was shown to have a reversible
anti-fertility action in male rats by Qian (1987) using Task-Force supported study.

37

Its antifertility activity was well documented in rats, mice and human (Qian, 1986 and
Qian et al., 1995).
Choudhary et al. (1991) studied antifertility effect of ethanol leaf extracts of
Alstonia scholaris, Cleistanthus collinus and Terminalia bellerica and root extract of
Murraya paniculata in male albino rats. Lohiya and Goyal (1992) administered
chloroform extract of Carica papaya seeds and showed a decrease in sperm count
and the suppression of caudal epididymal sperm motility in rats. They also suggested
that contraceptive effects were mainly post testicular in nature and without adverse
influence on the lipids profile of animals. Verma and Chinoy (2001) reported
that the Carica papaya seed extract altered caudal epididymal micro-environment.
Manivannan et al. (2004) observed the ultra structural changes in the testis and
epididymis of rats following treatment with the chloroform extracts of the Carica
papaya seeds. Dehghan et al. (2006) reported that the Azadirachta indica seed extract
altered vas deferens and epididymal milieu and affected the spermatozoa.
Thus the extract served as a potential anti-fertility agent. Sakthidevi et al. (2012)
reported the antifertility activity of whole plant extract of Polygala javana on male
albino rats. Thanga Krishna Kumari et al. (2012) studied the antifertility activity of
whole plant extract of Sarcostemma secamone on male albino rats.
Antiinflammatory activity
The term rheumatism embraces a variety of disorders that have in common
pain and stiffness referable to the musculoskeletal system. When such symptoms are
due to abnormality of the joint itself, the condition can be classified as arthritis.
Non-articular rheumatism includes those conditions in which the symptoms are
produced not by pathologic changes in the joints proper, but in the structures
contiguous to, or related to the joints. Although arthritis occurs in a number of
38

different forms, there are essentially two fundamental pathological processes that
affect the joints viz., inflammation, which may be exudative or proliferative or a
combination of each and degenerative changes, which are primarily dependent on the
limited capacity of articular cartilage to repair itself (Loeb, 1971). The target should
be to discover plant based new drugs which may provide therapeutic cure and would
be free from undesirable effect as well as economical, which would be accepted by
the developing nations like India (Huang, 1999).
A systematic study of antiinflammatory effects of Indian medicinal plants
began by Gujral and his associates. They screened a number of plants for their
antiarthritic effects. Subsequently, various workers from different laboratories in India
made significant contributions. In the sixties, formaldehyde induced arthritis and
croton oil induced granuloma pouch in rats were mainly used as the experimental
models of inflammation. Later, with the introduction of better and more specific
models of experimental inflammation like carrageenan induced paw edema in rats,
cotton pellet induced granuloma in rats, Freuds complete adjuvant induced arthritis
etc., and workers in different laboratories tested their drugs with the help of the later
models. Scientists in Central drugs Research Institute, Lucknow studied nearly two
thousand Indian medicinal plants for their various pharmacological properties
(Chatterjee and Pal, 1984; Shah et al., 2006). The greatest disadvantage in the
presently available potent synthetic antiinflammatory drugs lies in their toxicity and
reappearance of symptoms after discontinuation. Therefore, the search for their
antiinflammatory activity (AIA) is an unending problem (Chawla et al., 1987 and
Shen, 1981).
The oleoresin fraction of Commiphora mukul possessed significant
anti-arthritic and antiinflammatory activities. A steroidal compound isolated from

39

C. mukul displayed a significant dose dependent activity which was more potent than
the resin fraction of C. mukul. A comparison between the antiinflammatory activities
of petroleum ether extract of C. mukul with standard drugs showed that the
former to be more effective. The ethyl acetate-soluble portion of the resin
(guggalipid), on fractionation, revealed that the acidic portion displayed a significant
anti-inflammatory activity (Satyavati et al., 1969).
Hye and Gafur (1975) observed the antiinflammatory activity of a flavanoid
glycoside, chrysoeriol 7-0--D glucopyranosyl-D-apiofuranoside, isolated from
Dalbergia volubilis. Magniferin, a xanthone C-glucoside isolated from Canscora
decusssata, mangostin and related compounds isolated from Garcinia mangostana
by Shankaranarayanan et al. (1979) and xanthones isolated from Calophyllum
inophyllum and Meusa ferrea by Gopalakrishnan et al. (1980) were shown to have
antiinflammatory activities. Swarnalakshmi et al. (1981) isolated epicatechin from
seed coat of Anacardium occidentale and showed it an antiinflammatory agent, as
effective as phenylbutazone, using various test models. Bergenin was isolated from
the pods of Peltophorum pterocarpum and was found to be equipmental to
phenylbutazone against carrageenan induced edema in rats (Menon et al., 1982).
A flavonoid isolated from Hedychium spicatum showed a significant activity
with less ulcerogenic index than phenylbutazone (Srimal et al., 1984). The petroleum
ether extract of Curcuma longa rhizomes showed significant antiinflammatory
activity and was effective in delayed hypersensitivity. Curcumin, chemically known
as diferuloyl methane, a constituent of turmeric, was shown to be effective by Srimal
and Dhawan, (1973). It is as potent as phenylbutazone in the carrageenan induced
edema test but half as potent in chronic tests. Srivastava and Srimal (1985) showed
that curcumin was found to be a stabilizer of lysosomal membrane (more potent than

40

Ibuprofen) and as an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation in sub-acute

inflammation rat models. Two naturally occurring curcumin related analogues,
feruloyl-4-hydroxycinnamoyl methane and bis (4-hydroxy cinnamoyl) methane also
showed AIA. Water soluble sodium curcuminate showed better AIA than curcumin in
albino rats. Delgado et al. (2001) isolated dicadalenol, caryolane-1, 9-diol and
quercetin from aerial parts of Heterotheca inuloides (Asteraceae) and displayed their
dose dependent activities and showed them to be the most active substances tested.
Quercetin, quercetin 3-0-rhamnoside (quercitrin) and quercitrin 3-0-rutinoside (rutin)
isolated from 80% MeOH leaf extract of Morinda morindoides showed similar
inhibition of classical pathway of complement system (Kanyanga Cimanaga
et al., 1995).
The dichloromethane extract of the aerial parts of Tanacetum microphyllum
yielded two antiinflammatory flavonoids viz; 5,7,3-trihydroxy-3,6,4-trimethoxy
flavones (centaureidin) and 5,3-dihydroxy- 4-methoxy -7-carbomethoxyflavonol
(Abad et al., 1993). Three flavonoids, namely 7-0-methylaromadendin, rhamnocitrin
and

3-0-acetylpadmatin

along

with

sesquiterpene

lactone

inuvisolide;

a sesquiterpene acid, silicic acid; and a diagalactosyl-diacylglycerol, inugalacolipid-A

were isolated from Inula viscosa dichloromethane extract by Manez et al. (1999) and
were shown to have 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate induced ear edema
inhibitory activity in mice. Flavonone glycosides, diinsininol and diinsinin from the
rhizomes of Sacropthyta piriei (Balanophoraceae), showed prostaglandin synthesis
inhibition and inhibition of platelet activating factor-induced exocytosis, respectively.
Calophylolide isolated from the nuts of Calophyllum species effectively
reduced the increased permeability induced by the chemical mediators involved in
inflammation like histamine, serotonin and bradykinin. The triterpenoids of the

41

oleanene and ursene series were found to be active against carrageenan induced
edema, formaldehyde induced edema and formaldehyde induced arthritis in rats.
Bhargava et al. (1970) suggested that the antiinflammatory activity of the
triterpenoids of the oleanene series, with the polarity of compounds, were enhanced
by a number of hydroxyl groups in the molecule. Atal et al. (1980) observed the
antiinflammatory and antiarthritic activities of the oleogum of Boswellia serrata
in controlled clinical trials in arthritic patients. Its activity might be due to the
boswellic acids present in the oleogum. Two new triterpene saponins having
phospholipase-D inhibitory activity were isolated from extract of the leaves of
Myrsine australis. Oleanolic acid 3--glucoside isolated from the seeds of Randia
dumetorum showed a significant AIA in the exudative and proliferative phases of
inflammation in rats (Ghosh et al., 1983). Singh et al. (1970) isolated -sitosterol
from Cyperus rotendus and showed it a potent antiinflammatory agent against
carrageenan and cotton pellet-induced edema in rats. Gupta et al. (1971) compared the
antipyretic activities of hydrocortisone and oxyphenbutazone. -spinasterol obtained
from the stem-bark of Symplocos spicata showed a significant activity against acute
inflammation induced by carrageenan in rats.
Tylophorine, an alkaloid isolated from Tylophora indica, apart from
the

anaphylactic

and

immunocytoadherence

actions

significantly

inhibited

the primary and secondary responses of adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats

(Gopalakrishnan et al., 1979). The alcoholic extract of Cardiospermum halicacabum
leaves showed a significant antiinflammatory activity in rats. The stem bark of Cedrus
deodora possessed a significant AIA in rat (Gopala et al., 1976). Gangetin, one of the
pterocarpens, isolated from hexane extract of Desmodium gangeticum root also
produced a significant AIA in the exudative and proliferative phases of inflammation
42

in rats (Ghosh and Kumar, 1983). Radiological findings by Hazeena Begum and
Sadique (1988) evidently supported the anti-arthritic property of Withania somnifera.
Handa et al. (1992) cited that species of 96 genera belonging to 56 families
possessed antiinflammatory activities. The triterpenes, alpha-amyrin acetate,
beta-amyrin acetate and lupeol acetate of Alstonia boonei were evaluated for their
antiarthritic activities in rats by Kweifio-Okai and Carroll (1992 and 1993).
The anti-inflammatory activity of the aqueous extract of Bridelia ferrugiana stem
bark was evaluated using carrageenan induced paw edema in rats and mice
(Olajide et al., 1999). Suleyman et al. (1999) studied the antiinflammatory activity of
the aqueous extracts of Rumex patientia roots using carrageenan, histamine, dextrane,
serotonin and formaldehyde induced edema tests. The alcoholic extract of
Clerodendron serratum roots was evaluated for its antiinflammatory activity using
animal models (Narayanan et al., 1999).
The analgesic and antiinflammatory properties of lyophilized aqueous extract
of Opuntia dillenii fruits were demonstrated by Loro et al. (1999) in rats and mice.
The aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Tecoma sambucifolia flowers and pods were
analysed to determine their antiinflammatory activities using carrageenan induced
edema test (Alguacil et al., 2000). Stephania tetrandrae, a traditional medicinal plant
to treat inflammatory diseases in Korea, possessed two major alkaloids namely
fangchinoline and tetraandrine. Choi et al. (2000) isolated fangchinoline and
tetraandrine and showed their anti-inflammatory potentialities of using animal
models.
The dried leaf methanol extract of Alstonia macrophylla was investigated
for its antiinflammatory activity in carrageenan induced rat paw edema
(Arunachalam et al., 2002). Antiinflammatory activity of ethanol extract of Bouchea

43

fluminensis leaves was demonstrated by Delaporte et al. (2002). Hajhashemi

et al. (2002) studied the antiinflammatory activities of polyphenolic fraction of hydro
alcoholic extract and essential oil of the aerial parts of Satureja hortensis, an
important Iranian folk medicinal plant used as muscle and bone pain reliever, using
carrageenan induced paw edema in rats. The crude ethanol extract and the chloroform
and aqueous fractions of Sideritis canariensis var. pannosa were examined for their
anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects using several animal models (HernandezPerez and Rabanal, 2002). The ethanol rhizome extract of Cistanche deserticola was
evaluated for its antiinflammatory activity (Lin et al., 2002). The hexane, chloroform
and methanol leaf and bark extracts of

Aristolochia trilobata and Syngonium

podophyllum, leaves of Hamelia patens and Piper amalago and barks of Bursera
simaruba were evaluated for their antiinflammatory activities by Sosa et al. (2002).
Mitragyna
treat

ciliata,

inflammation,

widely

hypertension,

used

headache,

traditional

medicinal

rheumatism,

plant

gonorrhoea

to
and

bronchial-pulmonary diseases was investigated by Dongno et al. (2003) for its

antiinflammatory and analgesic properties using the hexane and methanol extracts of
the stem bark. Laupattarakasem et al. (2003) studied the antiinflammatory activities
of aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the leaves of the Acanthus ebracteatus, stem bark
of Oroxylum indicum and the stems of Cryptolepis buchanani and Derris scandens,
the medicinal plants used to treat arthritis traditionally by the people of Thailand,
using three different in vitro systems. Li et al. (2003) evaluated the antiinflammatory
activities of ethanol extracts of 9 vine plants used in the traditional Chinese medicine
to treat inflammatory conditions. Matu and Vanstaden (2003) evaluated the
antiinflammatory activities of aqueous, hexane and methanol extracts of 12 medicinal
plant species, traditionally used in Kenya. The methanol extract of Clerodendrum

44

petasites was assessed by Panthong et al. (2003) for antiinflammatory and anti-pyretic
activities using experimental animals. They found that the extract possessed moderate
inhibitory activity on acute phase of inflammation. The methanol-water extract
of Barleria prionitis was evaluated for its anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic activities
against different acute and chronic animal test models (Singh et al., 2003).
The antiinflammatory activity of the alcoholic stem extract of Tabenaemontana
pandacaqui was studied using carrageenan induced rat paw edema (Taesotikul et al.,
2003). Trongsakul et al. (2003) conducted pharmacological studies using
experimental animal models and evaluated the analgesic, antipyretic and
antiinflammatory activities of hexane extract of the dried stem of

Diospyros

variegata.
Deb et al. (2007) investigated the antiinflammatory activity of the aqueous
leaf extract of Eucalyptus globulus in carrageenan induced paw edema and cotton
pellet granuloma technique in albino rats. The petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, ethanol
and aqueous leaf extracts of Calotropis gigantea were screened by Patil et al. (2007)
for their antiarthritic activities in albino rats. The petroleum ether, chloroform,
methanol and aqueous extracts of Sesbania sesban leaves were investigated for their
antiinflammatory activities in albino rats (Tatiya et al., 2007). The bark extract of
xeromphis spinosa using a mixture of equal proportions of petroleum ether, ethyl
acetate and methanol was analysed for its antiinflammatory activity by
Das et al. (2009). It exhibited a significant result at an oral dose of 200 and
400 mg/kg body weight.
The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Syzygium cumini leaves were
investigated for their antiinflammatory activities in carrageenan induced paw edema
in wistar rats (Jain et al., 2010). Parthasarathy (2010) using carrageenan induced paw

45

edema albino rats, studied the antiinflammatory activity of whole plant methanol
extract of Spermacoce hispida. Rajesh et al. (2010) investigated the antiinflammatory
activity of the petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, ethanol and water leaf
extracts of Salvadora persica in albino rats. The methanol root bark and stem bark
extracts of Pittosporum tetraspermum were investigated for their antiinflammatory
activities by Rosakutty et al. (2010) in carrageenan induced paw edema in albino rats.
Sutha et al, (2011) screened the ethanol leaf extract of Alstonia venenata for its
antiinflammatory activity in carrageenan induced paw edema in albino rats.
The whole plant ethanol extracts of Polygala rosmarinifolia, P.javana and
P. chinensis were evaluated for their antiinflammatory activities using carrageenan
induced paw edema by Alagammal et al. (2012e, f, g). Balamurugan et al. (2012)
reported the anti-inflammatory activity of Polycarpea corymbosa against carrageenan
induced paw edema. Kalpanadevi et al. (2012) studied the ethanol extract of Entada
pursaetha seed for its antiinflammatory activity in carrageenan induced paw edema in
albino rats. The ethanol leaf and stem bark extracts of Naringi crenulata were
evaluated for their antiinflammatory activities using carrageenan induced paw edema
by Sarada et al. (2012). Muthulakshmi et al. (2012) studied the antiinflammatory
activity of ethanol extract of leaf and bark of Feronia elephantum against carrageenan
induced paw edema. Thanga Krishna Kumari et al. (2012a, b) reported the
antiinflammatory activity of ethanol extract of Sarcostemma secamone and Canscora
perfoliata whole plant against carrageenan induced paw edema.

46