Antioxidant activity and pharmacological evaluation of Cucumis melo var. agrestis methanolic seed extract

Abstract

Traditional medicinal plants in India had a glorious past and have a promising future. People throughout the world use medicinal plants and have great faith on them for their effectiveness due to their inherent medicine properties. The present study was to evaluate antioxidant, antiinflammatory and analgesic activities of Cucumis melo var. agrestis methanolic seed extract on traditional background. Free radical scavenging potential was evaluated by hydrogen peroxide and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl method. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. Analgesic activity was evaluated by acetic acid-induced writhing response in albino mice and tail immersion method in albino rats. The seed extract was found to have significant scavenging activity 75.59% at 300 μg mL -1 by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. picrylhydrazyl method and 69.86% at 400 μg mL -1 by Hydrogen peroxide method as compared to standard (ascorbic acid). In case of antiinflammatory the maximum percentage inhibition by rat paw edema was 61.6% at 300 mg kg -1. Further the extract showed maximum analgesic activity i.e. 70.6% at 300 mg kg -1 by acetic acid induced writhing method and increased the pain threshold significantly after 60 min at 300 mg kg -1 by tail immersion method. The present study indicates that the seeds of Cucumis melo var. agrestis has significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. © 2011 Academic Journals Inc.