Phytochemical Screening and Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Aqueous Extracts of Croton sparsiflorus Morong

In this modern era, gastrointestinal disorders are the universal problem. Diarrhea & dysentery is one of the major diseases affecting the human population. In developing countries, a quarter of infant and childhood mortality is related to the diarrhea. Number of factors, such as infective, immunological and nutritional has been involved in the perpetuation of the diarrheal syndrome. Many plants conveniently available in India are used in traditional folklore medicine for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery. In the present study, the crude aqueous extract of the entire plant of Croton sparsiflorus Morong. (FamilyEuphorbiaceae) was evaluated for its possible phytochemical nature (group determination of plant constituents) and antidiarrhoeal activity. Phytochemical analysis of the aqueous extract of C. sparsiflorus indicated the presence of tannin, steroid & alkaloid types of compounds. The aqueous extract of C. sparsiflorus was studied for its antidiarrhoeal properties in experimental diarrhoea, induced by castor oil and magnesium sulphate in mice. At the doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg per oral, the aqueous extract showed significant and dose-dependent antidiarrhoeal activity in both models. The results were statistically significant (P <0.001) and was comparable to the standard drug atropine sulphate (0.1mg/kg; i.p.). The results showed that the extracts of C. sparsiflorus have a significant antidiarrhoeal activity and supports its traditional uses in herbal medicine. Keyword: Antidiarrhoeal, croton sparsiflorus, euphorbiaceae, phytochemical. Received 30 May 2013 Received in revised form 12 June 2013 Accepted 14 June 2013 *Address for correspondence: Sanjay Kumar Yadav Research Scholar, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh Assam786004, India. E-mail: [email protected] ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Croton sparsiflorus Morong (FamilyEuphorbiaceae) is a small annual herb, growing mainly road side up to 1-2 ft tall. Alternately arranged leaves, 3-5 cm long, are lance-shaped, with toothed margin. Small white flowers are borne in 3-8 cm long racemes at the end of branches. Flowers have 5 sepal and 5 petals and numerous long stemens producing out. Fruit is 5mm oblong capsule with warty surface. The plant is well known under vernacular as “Ban Tulasi” The powdered leaves are useful in controlling high blood pressure and used for treatment of skin disease, cuts & wounds as well as antiseptic and antidote [1-3]. It contains broad spectrum antibiotic compounds in leaves of this species [4]. This plant main chemical constituents i.e. glycoside, saponins tannins, flavonides, terpenoids and alkaloids [5-6]. Fig. 1: The plant of Croton sparsiflorus. The most of phytoconstituents were extracted from leaves of C. sparsiflorus Morong, hence the leaves of this plant have International Journal of Pharma Research & Review, July 2013; 2(7):12-16 Sanjay Kumar Yadav et.al, IJPRR 2013; 2(7) 13 been used for all pharmacological activities. Hence, an endeavor has been made to establish the scientific validity to explore the possible antidirrhoeal activity in animal models. In developing countries, diarrhoea is a major cause of infant mortality and morbidity [7]. Despite the availability of vast spectrum of approaches for diarrhoeal management, a vast majority of the people in these developing countries rely on herbal drugs for the management of diarrhoea. WHO has encouraged studies for treatment and prevention of diarrhoeal diseases using traditional medical practices [8]. As a part of our continuing evaluation of antidiarrhoeal activities of the medicinal plants from north east India flora [9-11]. The present study was aimed to evaluate the antidiarrhoeal activity of C. sparsiflorus Morong in mice due the plant contain flavonides, as a major constituents which is responsible for antidiarrhoeal activity [12]. MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection and Identification of Plant Material: The entire plant of Croton sparsiflorus Morong were collected from north east India Assam State in May, 2010. The botanical identity of the plant was by Dr Tariq Hussain of the National Botanical Research Institute (N.B.R.I.) Lucknow, U.P. Extraction and Preparation of the Extract: After collection, the plant materials were air dried for one week. This was further subjected to another one week of drying in an oven maintained at 400C. The leaves were pulverized into a smooth powder. The pulverized plant material (150g) was mixed with distilled water (3.0 liters) and left for 72 hours. The mixture was stirred at 6 hours intervals using a sterile glass rod. At the end, the extract was passed through filter paper. The filtrates were concentrated with the aid of a vacuum pump and rotavapour at 400 C. The concentrated extract was stored in cool places prior to use. Phytochemical Screening: The aqueous extract was subjected to phytochemical screening testing for the presence of alkaloids, Tannins, saponions, reducing sugars and carbohydrate using the method of Trease and Evans. The aqueous extract (4 g) was warmed with water on a steam bath for 30 min then filter. After filtration, the filtrate obtained was tested for the presence of chemical constituents, by using the following reagents and chemicals, for example, alkaloids were identified by the dragendorff’s reagent, flavonoids with the use of Mg and HCl, tannins with ferric chloride and potassium dichromate solutions, and steroids with Libermann-Burchard reagent. Reducing sugars with Benedict’s reagent [13, 14]. Table 1: Results of different group tests of aqueous extract of C. sparsiflorus Morong. Phytoconstituents Results Alkaloids Present Reducing sugars Present Flavonoids Present Saponins Absent Steroids Present Gums Absent Tannins Present Carbohydrates Present Antidiarrhoeal Activity: Animals: Albino Swiss mice weighing between 2030g of either sex were purchased from the Chennai. They were kept in the departmental animal house in a well crossventilated room at 27 ± 2 °C, and relative humidity 44–56%, light and dark cycles of 10 and 14 h, respectively, for one week before and during the experiments. Animals were provided with the standard rodent pellet diet (Amrut, India) and the food was withdrawn 24 h before the experiment but water was allowed ad libitum. All the experiments were performed in the morning according to the current guidelines International Journal of Pharma Research & Review, July 2013; 2(7):12-16 Sanjay Kumar Yadav et.al, IJPRR 2013; 2(7) 14 for the care of laboratory animals and the ethical guidelines for the investigation of experimental pain in conscious animals