Haematinic evaluation of fruits of Opuntia elatior mill. On mercuric chloride induced anemia in rats

Abstract

The fruits of Opuntia elatior Mill. (Family: Cactaceae) is known as prickly pear and widely used in several indigenous systems of medicine for the treatment of various ailments, viz. Anemia, asthma, inflammatory disorders, and diabetes. The objective of the present work is to screen phytochemical compositions and evaluation hematinic activity of fruits of Opuntia elatior Mill. The hematinic activity of an orally administered fruit juice (5, 10 and 15 ml/kg) was studied on mercuric chloride (HgCl2) -induced anemic rats. Phytochemical analysis signifies the presence of betacyanin as an active principle which was confirmed by spectrophotometric, HPLC and LC-MS techniques. The total betacyanin content (47.10 mg/100 ml) equivalent to betanin obtained from the fruits of O. elatior Mill. was higher compared to O. ficus-indica and O. undulata Griff. while lower compared to O. stricta Haw. Mercuric chloride altered the hematological parameters by hemolysis characterized by decrease in Hb content, total RBC counts and PCV (p < 0.001) on day 30. Fruit juice at the dose of 10 ml/kg and 15 ml/kg showed a good percentage of recovering in hemoglobin, 32.99 % and 38.18 %, respectively, which was higher than standard treated group (29.8 %) indicating the correction of anemia induced by mercuric chloride after 30 days treatment. The speedy and progressive recovery of anemia in the treatment of prickly pear may be due to increased erythropoiesis and/or antioxidant property of betacyanin.