<i>In-vitro</i> antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity of <i>Cucumis melo L. </i>of ethanolic extract

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Cucumis melo L. commonly known as wild melon (in English) belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae and well distributed in rural areas. Cucumis melo L. is a annual climbing or perennial herb, distributed almost throughout India and neighbouring countries. Nowadays food wastes are a major concern. On the other hand, the demand for natural valuable compounds to human health is increasing. These by-products contain phytochemical compounds with great nutritional and functional potentials. The fruits of this plant possess the abortifacient property and have antitussive, antioxidant, digestive, cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory properties.&#x0D; &#x0D; Materials and Methods: The ethanolic extract was used to determine the antioxidant scavenging activity using DPPH method, protein denaturation for anti inflammatory studies, as well as in vitro cytotoxic activity by brine shrimp lethal assay (BSLA).&#x0D; &#x0D; Results: The results obtained indicated highest antioxidant activity as compared to DPPH methods. The protein denaturation test showed the ethanolic extracts of Cucumis melo L. had effective anti-inflammatory activity. Extracts of Cucumis melo L. also registered potential cytotoxic activities by BSLA. This study provides the basis for further investigation of Cucumis melo L. for potential identification of novel bioactive compounds with therapeutic properties.&#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion: The presence of phytoconstituents such as flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, may indeed assist to the antioxidant activity of fruit extract. That this next thing that must be done will be to conduct in vivo experiments and discern the histopathological mechanism.