Medicinal plants are precious source of bioactive compounds which possess a range of beneficial properties and serve as the major source of medicine for a large proportion of population across the world. Since ancient times, Crataeva nurvala has been used as a vital herb in Ayurvedic system of medicine. In Unani system of medicine the bark of C. nurvala is used as an appetite stimulant and as an agent to decrease the secretion of bile and phlegm. In the present study, the methanol extract of stem bark of C. nurvala was analysed for preliminary phytochemicals and the chemical profiling of the extract was illustrated using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The phytochemical analysis revealed that the plant extract contained alkaloids, steroids and triterpenoids. The GC-MS analysis determined the presence of different compounds of biological importance. The identification and characterisation of the phytoconstituents in the extract could pave the way for the discovery of new drugs for various ailments.

Steroid hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone play multidimensional role in regulation of reproduction, metabolic and neuroendocrine functions in humans and animals. Phytoestrogens bind to oestrogen receptors and mimic the role of oestrogen, thus play a role in the management of fertility as well as therapy of hormone dependent cancers. The whole plant of Boerrhavia diffusa was collected locally from the campus of College of Veterinary and Animal sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur. The qualitative phytochemical analysis was performed on the methanolic extracts of Boerrhavia diffusa for the presence of steroids, alkaloids, tannins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, diterpenes, triterpenes and saponins [1] . In the present study, methanolic extract of whole plant of B. diffusa was analysed for its modulatory activity on steroidogenesis. The cytotoxicity of methanolic extract of B. diffusa was explored using MTT assay in MCF-7 cells and IC50 was calculated. The cells were also cultured in six well plates and exposed to (IC50, 2 times IC50 and half dose of IC50) for 96 hours. The culture media were collected every 48 and 96 hours, was stored at -80 °C and used for the estimation of progesterone and oestrogen by ELISA. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, tannins and flavonoids. Through the MTT assay the IC50 of methanolic extract of B. diffusa was found to be 170 µg/mL. The methanolic extract of B. diffusa showed significant increase in the progesterone concentration with maximum increase at 340 and 170 µg/mL. There was a significant decrease in oestrogen concentration when exposed to extracts at 96 hours post treatment with maximum decrease at 340 µg/mL. Hence it could be concluded that the methanolic extract of B. diffusa down regulated oestrogen synthesis independent of the interconversion of cholesterol to progesterone. Hence the effect may be in the pathway of conversion of progesterone to oestrogen.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the cytotoxic and antiproliferative activity of methanolic extract of Asparagus racemosus in MDAB-231 cells. The qualitative phytochemical analysis of the extract revealed the presence of steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins and diterpenes. MDAMB-231 cells were maintained in RPMI media containing 10 per cent serum and 1 per cent antibiotic and antimycotic solution. The cells were harvested and seeded to 96 well plate at 5×10 3 cells/mL, incubated for 24 hours at 37˚C with 5 per cent CO2. The cells were treated with 160, 80, 40, 20 and 10µg/mL of the extract for 24 hours and viability was accessed using MTT Assay. Also cells were plated in 6 well plates at concentrations 3×10 5 cells/mL and exposed to 80, 40, 20 and 10µg/mL of the extract of Asparagus racemosus for acridine orange ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining. There was a dose dependent decrease in viability of cells exposed to methanolic extracts of Asparagus racemosus with a viability of 15.55+0.193 per cent for cells treated with 160µg/mL. The IC50 was found to be 91.36+ 0.87 µg/mL. The AO/EB staining revealed that most of the cells were dead in extract treated with 80µg/mL where more than 90 per cent of cells were live when treated with 10µg/mL of the extract.