Phytochemical and pharmacological studies on methanolic seeds' extract of Dolichos biflorus.

The Dolichos biflorus is a well known medicinal plant in folklore for its medicinal properties. In herbal medicine the seeds of it are mainly used as tonic, astringent, diuretic, and are also recommended in asthma, bronchitis, urinary discharges, hiccoughs, ozoena, heart trouble and other diseases of brain. The main purpose of this study is to explore and to provide experimental data on the traditional use of plant Dolichos biflorus. For this purpose we investigated the plant seed extract phytochemically and pharmacologically. Phytochemical analysis was performed on extract and powder form of the drug. Procedure use for evaluation were Identification of chemical constituent by color reaction, Fluorescence analysis of powder drug, pH (in powder and extract forms), loss on drying, Thin layer chromatography, Infrared spectroscopy, acid and saponification values. In pharmacological studies (diuretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities) were tested on the extract of plant seed. The tests were carried out over albino mice taking different concentration of seed extract. Seeds extract of Dolichos biflorus has exhibited mild analgesic activity, the results were (84.6±6.68) at dose 300mg/kg and (92.2±6.81) at dose 500mg/kg which were not much significant as compared to reference drug Aspirin (300mg/kg) having result (36.4±2.27). While seed extract of Dolichos biflorus exhibited remarkable diuretic activity, the values at 300 mg/kg was (1.33±0.13) and at 500 mg/kg were (2.66±0.31) which are highly significant as compared to drug Lasix (20mg /kg) having result (2.38±0.23). Anti-inflammatory effects of crude extract of Dolichos biflorus obtained at 0.06mg/kg and 01mg/kg were (26.6±2.96) and (36±1.67) respectively. While the value for aspirin as standard drug (300mg/kg) were (17.44±1.59).This study provides a platform for further investigation for the isolation of active principles responsible for biological activity.