ASSESSMENT OF PHYTOCHEMICAL & PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF XANTHIUM INDICUM

The objective of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant and analgesic activity of ethanol extract of Xanthium indicum Koen. Family: Compositae. Ethanol extract of X. indicum plant was prepared and tested for its phytochemical and pharmacological investigation. Preliminary phytochemical investigation showed that extracts possessed the active principles-alkaloid, carbohydrate, glycoside, flavonoid & tannin. The ethanol extract of X. indicum showed significant antioxidant property in the qualitative assay. The extract showed the antioxidant property by the presence of strong yellow spot on a purple background on the TLC plate & it also in the quantitative assay, X. indicum extract displayed free radical scavenging activity in the DPPH assay (IC₅₀ ~141.25 µg/mL) which is comparable to standard (ascorbic acid, IC₅₀ ~14.12 µg/mL). The extract showed dose-dependent reduction ability (Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ transformation) in reducing power assay; showing a maximum absorbance of 0.492 at a concentration of 100 μg/mL of the ethanol extract comparable to that of ascorbic acid which were used as positive control and gave maximum absorbance of 0.659 at a concentration of 100 μg/mL. The extract inhibited the acetic acid induced writhing in mice (47.5% P<0.001 and 24.55% P<0.05) at the dose of 500 and 250 mg/kg body weight respectively and it is comparable to the activity of the standard analgesic drug Diclofenac sodium (67.96% P<0.001) at the dose of 25 mg/kg body weight. In summary, the ethanol extract of X. indicum possesses antioxidant constituent(s) & the ethanol extract has had beneficial effects as a pain reliever.