Evaluation of Cassia tora Seeds for their Antioxidant and Antiulcer Activity

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant potential using various in vitro methods by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and Hydrogen peroxide. Antiulcerogenic effect of methanolic Cassia tora seed ext. was evaluated by pyloric ligation and non-steroidal anti inflammatory induced mucosal damage on Wistar Albino rats. The phytochem. screening shows the presence of various phytoconstituents belonging to class of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenoids and steroids. The ext. showed max. antioxidant activity i.e., 76.35±0.52 and 70.17±0.14 by 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and Hydrogen peroxide at the dose of 200 μg mL-1, resp. as compared to the std. (ascorbic acid). Further, antiulcer activity was assessed in which the exptl. animals were divided into five groups categorized as control, std., normal and two ext. treated groups. Various biochem. parameters such as gastric vol., free and total acidity was recorded from all groups. The redn. of ulcer index as well as gastric acid output in ext. treated animals was found to be statistically significant with respect to control animals. The ext. exhibited optimum percentage inhibition of 75% by pyloric ligation and 70.31% by non-steroidal anti inflammatory induced ulcer method at concn. of 200 μg mL-1, resp. which was comparable to std. (ranitidine). Cassia tora Linn. is well known traditional plant used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. The present study suggests that Cassia tora seed ext. possessed potent anti-ulcerogenic properties that might be afforded via cytoprotective mechanism by virtue of its antioxidant properties. These results supported the ethnomedical uses of Cassia tora seeds in the treatment of antiulcer. [on SciFinder(R)]