ANTIOXIDANT, ANALGESIC AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITIES OF MIMUSOPS ELENGI LINN. LEAVES

Mimusops elengi Linn. (Family: Sapotaceae) is a tree which is traditionally used against a number of diseases including ulcers, headache, dental diseases, wound and fever. In the present study crude methanolic extract of Mimusops elengi Linn. leaf was investigated for possible antioxidant, analgesic and cytotoxic activity. The extract exhibited statistically significant antioxidant activity in DPPH free radical scavenging and Nitric oxide scavenging test. The analgesic activity of the sample was studied using acetic acid induced writhing of white albino mice and hot plate test. The extract produced 45.61% and 63.85% (P<0.001) writhing inhibition at the doses of 250mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight respectively which is comparable to the standard drug diclofenac sodium was found to be 76.69% at a dose of 25 mg/kg body weight. In hot plate test the extract exerted significant (P<0.001) prolongation in the response of latency time to the heat stimulus. The cytotoxic activity of the extract was assessed by brine shrimp lethality bioassay as an indicator of toxicity in which LC₅₀= 80μg/ml and LC₉₀ = 320μg/ml for sample. All the results tend to justify the traditional uses of the plant and require further investigation to identify the chemicals