Comparative phytochemical and biological property analysis to detect the genuineness of substitutes of the plant Moovila in drug preparations

Abstract

Pseudarthria viscida is the preferred source of the raw drug Salaparni in Ayurvedic system of medicine, especially in the preparation of Dasamoolarishtam. Due to its scarcity, other trifoliate leguminous plants, particularly the species of Desmodium and Uraria are used as substitutes. The phytochemical and biological properties of these plants were analyzed to sort out the genuineness of the substitutes. Qualitative as well as quantitative chemical profiles obtained for P. viscida showed similarity to U. rufescens. In vitro antioxidant and in vivo gastroprotective assays carried out to determine the biological properties of the extracts revealed that the acetone extract of P. viscida inhibited the formation of hydroxyl, superoxide, nitric oxide radicals, and lipid peroxidation. The oral administration of P. viscida extract significantly reduced ethanol-induced gastric ulceration in mice. Even though more or less the same chemical profile was obtained for P. viscida and U. rufescens, only P. viscida exhibited significant biological properties.

An efficient plant regeneration system through callus for Pseudarthria viscida (L.) Wright and Arn., a rare ethnomedicinal herb

“…As it effectively arrests bleeding and alleviates edema, it is a valuable panacea for heart diseases and blood disorders (Rajendran et al 2007). Other properties like antihypertensive (Klaus et al 1995), antioxidant (Mathew and Sasikumar 2007;Vijayabaskaran et al 2010a), antiulcer (Babu et al 2008), antifungal (Deepa et al 2004), antidiarrheal (Rajendran et al 2007;Vijayabaskaran et al 2010b) and antitumor (Vijayabaskaran et al 2007;Rajendran et al 2010) have also been reported from P. viscida.…”

Identification of Novel Anti-inflammatory Agents from Ayurvedic Medicine for Prevention of Chronic Diseases: “Reverse Pharmacology” and “Bedside to Bench” Approach

“…It is used to treat vitiated conditions of pita and vata, asthma, tuberculosis, helminthiasis, dyspepsia, diarrheas, neurasthenia, diabetes, cardiopathy, hyperthermia and general debility and as a nasal drop in headache. The ethanol-induced gastric ulceration in mice was significantly reduced by oral administration of P. viscida extract [226]. …”