PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT EXTRACTS OF PLANT CASEARIA TOMENTOSA LEAVES

Abstract

Objective: In present study different extracts of the leaves of plant Casearia tomentosa was investigated for the phytochemical screening, total phenolic content and various pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial.Methods: Leaves of C. tomentosa were successively extracted by soxhlet extraction method using petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol. The preliminary phytochemical investigation of different extracts was carried out according to standard methods. Antioxidant activity evaluated by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) method. Total phenolic content was evaluated by Folin-ciocalteau method. Antidiabetic activity estimated by α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory assay while antibacterial activity was performed by disk diffusion method.Results: C. tomentosa leaves show the presence of various phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, glycosides, protein etc. Results of antioxidant studies revealed that the ethanol extract possessed highest 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (IC50 31.87±0.65 μg/ml) activity, ferric reducing antioxidant power (43.78±0.65μM/ml, FRAP value=2.30). Among different extracts, ethanol extract shows highest (228.17±0.63 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/gram of dry mass) amount of total phenolic content. The ethyl acetate extract exhibited highest inhibition on α-amylase (IC50 262.08±1.26 μg/ml) and α-glucosidase (IC50 459.25±1.80 μg/ml) enzymes. Results of antibacterial activity revealed that all extracts show inhibition against selected bacterial strains like Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia and Salmonella typhi.Conclusion: The present study suggests that Casearia tomentosa leaves can be used as a potential source of natural antioxidant and natural antidiabetic, antibacterial agents.