Cucurbitaceae

Anti diabetic screening of Methanolic extract of Cirullus lanatus (MECL) was done by various in vitro methods. Preliminary phytochemical screening, total phenolic and flavonoid content, tannin content and estimation of Vitamins (B1, B2 and C) were done by standard procedure. TLC & HPTLC of MECL was done by using Quercetin, Gallic acid and Catechin as a standard. Screening of in vitro anti diabetic activity was done by Inhibition of α-amylase & α-glucosidase enzyme assay, Glucose uptake in yeast cells and Non - enzymatic glycosylation of Hemoglobin assay. Preliminary phytochemical screening showed the presence of carbohydrates, triterpenoids, proteins, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, sterols and absence of glycosides, volatile and fixed oil. The amount of Phenolic content (in terms mg GAE/g of extract), Flavonoids (mg Quercetin equivalent/g of extract) and Tannin content (mg Tannic acid/g of extract) present in the MECL were found to be 47.05±0.338, 89.99±0.30 and 290.9 ± 0.12mg/g respectively. The amount of Vitamin B1, B2 and C of MECL were found to be 56.28 ± 0.004, 245.37 ± 0.06 and 34.00 ± 0.009mg/g respectively. TLC & HPTLC qualitative estimation confirmed the presence of Quercetin, Gallic acid and Catechin in MECL. In Non-enzymatic glycosylation of hemoglobin assay, IC50 value was found to be 65.648µg/ml and 59.762µg/ml for MECL and α-Tocopherol respectively. MECL exhibited significant inhibition of glycosylation as compared with the standard drug α-Tocopherol. Glucose uptake assay in yeast cells, IC50 value was found to be 77.031µg/ml and 67.408µg/ml for MECL and Acarbose respectively. MECL showed greater efficiency in increasing the glucose uptake by yeast cells as compared to standard drug Acarbose. Inhibition of α-amylase enzyme assay, IC50 value was found to be 58.558µg/ml and 47.880µg/ml for MECL and Acarbose respectively. MECL showed significant α-amylase activity as compared to Acarbose. In α-glucosidase inhibition assay, IC50 was found to be 627.270µg/ml & 482.188µg/ml for MECL and Acarbose respectively. Overall MECL showed significant in vitro anti diabetic activity may be due to Phenolic, Flavonoid, Vitamin and Tannin content. MECL may be used as good candidate for diabetic treatment. Furthermore, in vivo studies are required for providing scientific information on the plant.

The present study was to evaluate antioxidant activity of ethanolic and aqueous extract of Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn. fruit for their therapeutic potential. In vitro antioxidant activity was performed by 1, 1- diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). For aqueous extract the scavenging activity of DPPH is 59.7% at the concentration of 200 µg/ml and the activity of H2O2 is 20.5% at concentration of 1000 µg/ml. For ethanolic extract The scavenging activity of DPPH is 77.4% at the concentration of 250 µg/ml and the activity of H2O2 is 21.3% at concentration of 1000 µg/ml. The method is compared to standard (ascorbic acid). Presence of phytochemicals like carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds might contribute to observed antioxidant activity. Benincasa hispida fruits are potential source of natural antioxidant compounds to replace synthetic antioxidants.