Abstract

CARMINATIVE, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIALITIES OF THE LEAF EXTRACTS OF ERYNGIUM FOETIDUM L. (APIACEAE)

*Aswathy PM and Oommen P Saj

ABSTRACT

Eryngium foetidum L., ‘Spiny coriander’ also known as ‘Culantro’ is an aromatic plant grown as a leafy vegetable, belongs to the family Apiaceae. Eryngium foetidum possesses a wide range of ethnomedicinal uses. These properties have not been scientifically evaluated. The present study intends to provide an overview of carminative, phytochemical, and antioxidant studies on chloroform and methanol leaf extracts of Eryngium foetidum. The carminative potentiality of leaf was quantitatively analyzed by carbondioxide evolution method. This novel work showed a significant result at different doses compared to that of the standard. After preliminary phytochemical screening of chloroform and methanol extracts, the extracts were analyzed by HPLC and 14 compounds were identified. Among the detected compounds, major constituent was found to be E(2)Dodecenal. The antioxidant activity of leaf extracts was also tested by DPPH and FRAP assay and proved the remarkable scavenging activity of methanol extract than the standard. The present trend in modern medicine is towards a change from the use of cellulose coated pills to extracts of plants supplied either in pure forms or in synthetic versions for curing many human ailments. Thus the presence of active phytochemical substances with antioxidant activities may provide substantial basis for the use of the plant in ethnomedicine.

Keywords: Eryngium foetidum, carminative, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, antioxidant.