Abstract

STUDIES ON IN VITRO ANTI THIAMINE ACTIVITY OF MENTHA SPICATA L. LEAVES

Prasenjit Mitra, Tanaya Ghosh and Prasanta Kumar Mitra*

ABSTRACT

Mentha. spicata Linn. (M. spicata L.), an herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant, has several pharmacological activities and is widely used in pharmaceutical industries. Recently we found anti thiamine activity of the plant in in vitro experiment.. As biological activity of a plant varies with season, the aim of the present work was to study effect of season on in vitro anti thiamine activity of M. spicata L. leaves. Attempts were also made to isolate the anti thiamine compound present in plant leaves and effect of season on yield of the anti thiamine compound was checked. Leaves of M. spicata L. were collected in different seasons, identified by taxonomist, washed thoroughly, shade dried and powdered. Isolation of the anti thiamine compound from the powdered leaves was carried out maintaining principles of standard isolation procedures of chemical compounds from plant sources. In vitro anti thiamine activity of the plant leaves and the isolated compound was measured by standard method. Leaves of M. spicata L. during the months of September and October had maximum anti thiamine activity. A compound was isolated from M. spicata L. leaves. 1 mg of the isolated compound could inactivate 47.9 μg of thiamine hydrochloride in 1 h in in vitro experiment. Yield of the anti thiamine compound was maximum during September and October. Isolation of anti thiamine compound from M. spicata L. leaves comprehensively validates anti thiamine activity of the plant. Maximum anti thiamine activity of M. spicata L. leaves in the months of September and October corroborates with high amount of anti thiamine compound present in leaves during the period.

Keywords: Mentha. spicata Linn. leaves, anti thiamine activity, seasonal variation.