ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF CUCUMIS MELO L. SUBSP. AGRESTIS (NAUDIN) PANGALO

The present study was aimed to evaluate the in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity of fruits and leaves extract of Cucumis melo L. subsp. agrestis (Naudin) Pangalo (Family Cucurbitaceae). The ethanol and aqueous extracts of fruits and leaves of the plant were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening and in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity. Extracts were incubated with bovine albumin under controlled conditions for denaturation, and protein denaturation was calculated by determination of their absorbance. Since, the erythrocyte membrane is analogous to the lysosomal membranes and its stabilization implies that the extract may well stabilize lysosomal membranes thus human red blood cell membrane stabilization was used as a method to study the in-vitro anti-inflammatory activity. The results showed that the plant extracts showed anti-inflammatory activity in a concentration-dependent manner, and the activity was increased on increasing the concentration of extracts. The ethanol extract was found to be more effective than other extracts of fruit and leaf. The present study reveals that the fruit of Cucumis melo L. subsp. agrestis (Naudin) Pangalo possesses a higher anti-inflammatory than the leaf. The activity may be due to the presence of phenols, tannins, and flavonoids present in the plant.