Pharmacological Activities of Withania Coagulan

Abstract

Withania coagulans has long been used in the indigenous system of medicine for the treatment of various ailments including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, antimicrobial, inflammation and wound healing. The plant is also used as a diuretic agent. Keeping in view the medicinal importance of the plant and biological activities of its extracts and chemical constituents, it was selected for carrying out further studies. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of several classes of chemical constituents, including alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins and phenolic compounds. The methanol extract of the fruits of the plant has also been subjected to different bioassays to determine its biological profile. The extract has shown significant antioxidant, antiglycation and
metal chelating activities in the ABTS and DPPH, Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and Ferrozine assays, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of the extract in n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and aqueous solvents was also determined by the agar diffusion method. All the extracts showed significant activity except the chloroform extract. Our investigation also revealed the presence of polyphenols and flavonoids in the extract. The presence of these important classes of compounds showed importance of the plant in terms of its chemical constituents and a crucial role it may play in development of lead compounds for their application in treating human sufferings.