Preliminary Phytochemical and Pharmacological Screening of Aristolochia Bracteolata

Background and Aim: Aristolochia bracteolata Lam has been widely used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of a variety of diseases. A. bracteolata belongs to the family Aristolochiaceae. It is easily available in all seasons. The plant is mainly used in skin diseases, snake bite, arthritis and diabetes in Siddha system of medicine. In the present study different extracts of roots and leaves of A. bracteolata were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory, antipruritic and mast cell stabilizing activity, analgesic activity etc. The aim of the present study was to investigate total alkaloids and flavonoids content of traditionally used medicinal plants of western region of India.

Method: The plants/plants parts were extracted by Soxhlet extraction methanol in methanol. Qualitative phytohemical analysis was done for various phyto-constituents like alkaloids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, steroids and saponins. Aqueous, methanol and chloroform extracts of this plant were evaluated for analgesic activity in Albino Rats.

Results: The methanolic extract of A. bracteolata contains alkaloids which were confirmed through TLC and HPTLC analysis. The plant showed as a definite positive effect on analgesic activity with significant increase in the level of powerful flavonoids. A bioassay-guided fractionation of methanol extract of A. bracteolata whole plant was used to identify active compounds. The combined administration of the extract of plant and analgesic shows the more analgesic activity in rats.

Conclusion: Preliminary phytochemical screening and pharmacological evaluations were analyzed by standard methods. The results revealed that the methanolic extract showed significant analgesic activity.