Phytochemical and pharmacological evaluation of Ajuga parviflora Benth

Abstract

Background

A. Parviflora Benth. commonly known as bugleweed belongs to Lamiaceae family, annual and short lived perennial herb. It is mainly found at higher altitude in hilly areas of Pakistan, China, Malaysia and India. Present study aimed to explore scientific analysis of phytochemical composition and bioactivity of whole plant parts of A. parviflora extract collected from hilly region of Uttarakhand with traditional ethanopharmacological knowledge.

Methods

A. parviflora Benth. whole plant were collected and different solvent extracts were prepared in aqueous, methanol and hexane by soxhlet followed characterization by LC-MS/MS and determination of total phenolics, total Flavanoid content and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract by 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay. Extract underwent Cytotoxic and In-vivo Anti-inflammatory activity by Neutral Red Uptake assay and carrageenan induced rat paw edema respectively.

Results

Phenolics, flavanoids and tannins in methanolic extract of whole plant parts of A. parviflora were found to be 709.1 ± 0.34 mg GAE/g, 264.74 ± 0.12 mg Rutin E/g and 111.20 mg TAE/g respectively. Furthermore, methanolic extract exhibited moderate antioxidant activity by DPPH method with IC₅₀ values of 51.18 ± 0.56 µg/ml while cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 cell line exhibited remarkable with IC₅₀ values of 4.152 ± 0.52 µg/ml. In-vivo anti-inflammatory activity was also found to be significant. Reverse phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography analysis identified and quantified two compounds i. e. Rutin (1.48 %) and quercetin (1.82 %). Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis identified seventeen secondary metabolites as major and minor phenolics, flavanoids of methanolic extract. Hence, our finding proves A. parviflora whole plant of methanolic extract might be used as potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer drugs.