ÖZAmaç: Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr. (CF, Familya: Menispermaceae) Hindistan'da önemli bir odunsu bitkidir. Bitki çeşitli hastalıkların tedavisinde etkili olan çeşitli majör sekonder metabolitler içermektedir. Bu çalışmada, Coscinium fenestratum meyvelerinin antioksidan ve antihelmintik aktiviteleri değerlendirilmiştir. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Bu çalışmada, kurutulmuş meyvelerin sulu, metanollü ve sulu metanollü (1:1) ekstreleri hazırlanmış ve ekstrelerin alkaloit, fenolik, flavonoid içerikleri ile antioksidan (DPPH ve hidrojen peroksit süpürücü etki tayin yöntemi) ve antihelmintik aktiviteleri değerlendirilmiştir. ABSTRACTObjectives: Coscinium fenestratum (Gaertn.) Colebr. (CF, Family: Menispermaceae) is an important endangered woody climber in India. CF contains various major secondary metabolites for the treatment of various disease conditions. The present study aimed to establish the antioxidant and anthelmintic activity of Coscinium fenestratum fruit pulp. Materials and Methods: The dried fruit pulp was subjected to aqueous, methanol, and mixed aqueous and methanol (1:1) solvent extraction followed by phytochemical investigations, estimations of alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant potentiality (DPPH and hydrogen peroxide scavenging methods), and anthelmintic activity tests were carried out. Results: Preliminary phytochemical screening of CF fruit extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids phenols, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, and resins, which are responsible for biologic properties. The combined aqueous and methanol extract resulted in significant anthelmintic and antioxidant properties in a dose-dependent manner. The DPPH free radical scavenging assay and H 2 O 2 assay exhibited IC 50 values of 42.38±0.012 μg/mL and 46.80±0.011 μg/mL, respectively. Thereafter, the anthelmintic activity test was carried out against Pheretima posthuma and Taenia solium with the extract at varying concentrations of 25, 50, 100 and 150 mg/mL and compared with standard albendazole (25 and 50 mg/mL) and saline (0.9%) as a control. All the extracts exhibited concentration-dependent paralytic effect, followed by death on the test organism, but significant activity was observed with the combined methanol and aqueous extract. Conclusion:The study was conducted in order to find possible isolated compounds as a biosources for future novel antioxidants in food and pharmaceutical formulations. Our findings indicate for the first time that the CF fruit pulp has therapeutic values with prominent antioxidant and anthelmintic properties.

Coscinium fenestratum (CF) (Gaertn.) Colebr. is a hard woody climber medicinal plant belongs to the family, Menispermaceae. The plant is commonly known as tree turmeric because the stem content yellow berberine, the major active constituent. The plant is widely available in Western Ghats region but became endangered due to over exploitation and very slow germination rate. Hence, the alternate in vitro tissue culture has established for reduced germination rate and to extract more a mount of plant constituents from the stem callus. Full strength MS medium supplemented with 2, 4-D at 0.1 mg/l and kinetin at 2 mg/l gave callus growth in 46 days and the growth mechanism is observed first time through SEM study of callus. Thereafter, rooting of callus occurred in IBA and kinetin in combinations in half strength MS medium whereas direct rooting of stem occurred with IBA and zinc sulphate (IBA at 2 mg/l and ZnSO 4 at 3 mg/l) supplemented in half strength MS media along with coconut water, within 18 days. Thereafter, extracted callus is identified with TLC, followed by estimated with HPLC and HPTLC and resulted methanol extract of CF showed higher content of berberine than aqueous extract.