PHYTOCHEMICAL, PHARMACOLOGICAL, ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTI–OVULATORY STUDIES ONANNONA SQUAMOSA

Abstract

Preliminary phytochemical, pharmacological, antibacterial and antiovulatory studies were conducted on the seeds of Annona squamosa, Linn. Qualitative analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, reducing sugars, glycosides and steroids and the absence o f saponins, resins, tannins and volatile oils. Ethanofic extract exhibited no pharmacological, anti-bacterial or antiovtrlatory activities o f therapeutic significance.Annona squamosa Linn. (SHARIFA) is reputed to possess varied medicinal properties (KHAN, 1911;KIRTIKAR and BASU, 1935, CHOPRA et al., 1958). Though the claims of its use as an insecticidal agent have been investigated by many workers, (CHEEMA et al., 1958; MUKERJEE and RAMGOVIND, 1958;VISWESWARIAH et al., 1971), work with respect to its other alleged pharmacological properties is lacking. This communication embodies a preliminary report on phytochemical, pharmacological, antibacterial and antiovulatory studies carried out with the total extract of seeds. Material and MethodsAuthenticated samples of the dried seeds were obtained from Hamdard (waqf) Laboratories, Delhi. These were successively extracted with petroleum ether, 90% ethanol and distilled water and percentage extractibilities determined. Qualitative analysis was done for the presence of alkaloids, reducing sugars, glycosides, tannins, resins, saponins, volatile oils and steroids.Pharmacological and antibacterial studies were carried out with the ethanolic extrtct. The parameters used for pharmacological investigations were blood pressure, respiration, ECG (Lead 11) and heart in situ of anaesthetised cats, isolated tissue preparations e. g. perfused frog heart, rabbit jejunum, rat uterus and frog rectus abdominis muscle. For antibacterial studies, in vitro filter paper disc method (CRUICKSHANK, 1965) was employed against five gram positive (Staphylococcus atrreus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus uiridans, Diplococcus pneumoniae and Corynebacterium diphtheriae) and five gram negative (Eschrichia coli. Salmonella typhi, Salmonella pnratyphi-A, Salmonella, partyphi-B, and Shigella flexneri) organisms.

Evaluation of mutagenic, teratogenic, and immunomodulatory effects of Annona nutans hydromethanolic fraction on pregnant mice

“…Although the fetus weight of some ANHMF exposed animals differed to control group, this parameter might vary with litter size. In contrast to that proposed by Vohora et al (1975) and Mishra et al (1979), our study demonstrates that plants from the Annonaceae family do not exhibit anti-ovulatory or abortive activity. These results indicate that ANHMF is safe to use during pre-pregnancy and/or throughout pregnancy.…”

“…However, herbal tea made from the leaves of Annona has been shown to induce a typical parkinsonism syndrome that is associated with the presence of acetogenins, such as annonacin (Champy et al, 2004). In addition, some studies have shown that different species of Annona, such as A. squamosa, cause anti-ovulatory and abortive activity in females (Vohora et al, 1975;Mishra et al, 1979).…”

Cytotoxicity and bacterial membrane destabilization induced by Annona squamosa L. extracts

“…In traditional medicine, the leaves, seeds and fruits of this species are considered as antidiarrheal, antitumor, antimicrobial and anthelmintic remedies (Lorenzi andMatos 2002, Rieser et al 2004). Some phytochemical and pharmacological studies of A. squamosa seeds, including hypoglycemic, antiovulatory and insecticidal activities had been reported (Fouque 1972, Vohora et al 1975 . Rahman et al (2005) showed the antibacterial activity of four different extracts of A. squamosa seeds and Kotkar et al (2002) reported the antimicrobial activity of flavonoids isolated from the seeds.…”

Effect of Ethanolic Extract of Different Parts of Plant (Annona Squamosa) on the Fertility of Male Rats

“…This plant has recently come under intense scrutiny as potential source of the potent biologically active annonaceous acetogenins isolated from the seed and the bark [8]. Analysis of (A. squamosa) seed also reveals the presence of alkaloids [9], terpenoids [10] and saponins [11]. The leaf contains volatile oils.…”