Planta Med 2013; 79 - PN22
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352366

Antioxidant potential of Incarvillea emodi (Royle ex Lindl.) Chatterjee

Y Ihtesham 1, VM Kutluay 1, Z Dogan 1, U Khan 2, I Saracoglu 1
  • 1Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, 06100, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey
  • 2Hazara University, Department of Botany, Garden Campus, Mansehra, Pakistan

Incarvillea Juss. is notable for being a temperate and herbaceous genus of the primarily tropical and woody family Bignoniaceae. It is composed of 16 species world wide and represented in Pakistan by one native species1,2. Most of the species occur in the Himalayas and S.W. China, where the diversity of the mainly herbaceous species appears to be related to the uplift of the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains1,2. Incarvillea species are used for the treatment of hepatitis, diarrhea and infectious diseases. Some traditional herbal medicines of genus Incarvillea are used to treat rheumatism and relieve pain1. Biological activity studies on the genus have proved its antinociceptive, antiinflammatory, neurotrophic and antihepatic activities. Earlier phytochemical investigations on Incarvillea species resulted in the isolation of mainly alkaloids, ceramides, iridoids, flavonoids, and triterpenes1. In the present study, antioxidant potential of Incarvillea emodi collected from two different localities, Abbottabad and Kashmir in Pakistan, was evaluated against different free radicals. Aqueous extracts of the aerial parts and the roots of plant collected from Abbottabad and the aerial parts of plant collected from Kashmir were prepared, separately. Each extract was tested for its radical scavenging activity using DPPH, NO and SO radicals spectroscopically. The extracts showed concentration dependent radical scavenging ability on all the tested radicals. The most active extract, with 47.6168 µg/ml IC50 value, against DPPH radicals was found to be the extract obtained from aerial part of the plant from Abbottabad. The activity of the extract of plant from Kashmir was found to be weak. Isolation studies of the active compounds have been continuing.

Acknowledgment: This study was supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey Program, No: 2216.

References:

[1] Fua, J. et al. Chemistry & Biodiversity (2009) 6.

[2] Flora of Pakistan http://www.tropicos.org/