Preliminary phytochemical analysis and anti-oxidant activity of Trichosanthes cucurmerina L. (Cucurbitaceae)

Trichosanthes cucumerina L. is an important medicinal plant belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. It is an annual climber. It has wide range of medicinal properties like anti-diabetic, anthelmintic, anti-cardiac failure, hypoglycaemic, anti-fertility, anti-inflammatory and against to HIV. The present study is focused on phytochemical analysis of different solvent system of whole plant of the T.cucumerina. The phytochemical analysis is done in plant by using five different solvent systems (Benzene, petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol and distilled water). Result obtained in this study reveals that alkaloids, flavanoids, phenols and tannins are present with high intensity in methanolic extract. A standard procedure was adopted to identify the constituents present in the extract. In vitro antioxidant property of methanolic extract of the whole plant was assessed by DPPH spectrophotometric method. The DPPH radical scavenging activity of extract increased with the increasing concentration. Methanolic extract of whole plant showed significant antioxidant activity. The present study revealed that T.cucumerina is a source of phytochemical and have the activity of the whole plant may be due to the presence of various phytochemicals such as phenols, tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids and other active compounds which need to be investigated further.