ASSESSMENT OF IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTI - INFLAMMATORY, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI - PROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITY OF CASSIA FISTULA LINN. METHAN OLIC EXTRACT R . Santhi 1 ,* , V.Saravanan

Cassia fistula Li nn. belonging to the family Caesalpiniaceae, is one of the long - established medicinal plant used in our traditional system for healing various diseases. In the present investigation methanolic extract of Cassia fistula was tested against different Gram pos itive and Gram negative pathogens revealing a good potential antibacterial activity. The methanolic extracts were also screened for in vitro anti - inflammatory activity by membrane stabilization assay and it was found to be inhibiting RBC lysis upto 100 μg/ ml concentration. In addition, the free radical scavenging activity of the extracts was analyzed using 2,2 - diphenyl - 1 - picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The maximum antioxidant activity was observed at 80 μg/ml concentration of plant extract. The MTT assay revealed t hat the C. fistula extract displayed highest anti - proliferative activity against HeLa cells (IC 50 = 67.17 μg/ml) when compared to Vero cells (IC 50 = 137.9 μg/ml). The C. fistula leaf extract was found to be possessing excellent antibacterial, anti - inflamma tory, antioxidant and anti - proliferative activity and could be further explored for the development of drugs against various disorders. Keywords: Cassia fistula, methanol, anti - inflammatory, antioxidant