ascorbic acid

In India, many indigenous plants are used in herbal medicine to cure diseases and heal injuries. Major pharmaceutical companies are currently conducting extensive research on plant materials gathered from the rain forests and other places for their potential medicinal value. Toddalia asiatica (L.) Lam. (Rutaceae) is widely used as a folk medicine in India. The roots are used in the treatment of indigestion and influenza and the leaves to treat lung diseases and rheumatism. The root and its bark have been used to treat fever, malaria, cholera, diarrhoea and rheumatism 1. Despite the use of this plant for such purposes, there is little information on the biochemical composition of Toddalia asiatica.  L.Var . floribunda.. This work is therefore aimed at documenting the biochemical compositions of Toddalia asiatica. L. Var . floribunda. From the earlier reports qualitative phytochemical results reveals that the methanolic stem extract of Toddalia asiatica.L. contain secondary metabolites like  Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Saponins, Steroids, Glycosides, Tannins. From the quantification result of various biochemical and phytochemical constituents like carbohydrates, proteins, total ascorbic acid, phenols, tannins and flavanoids content, it was noted that alkaloid found to be the highest with phenol as the next active constituents among the secondary metabolites in the stem. From the results it reveals Toddalia asiatica has the potential to be represented as an effective biochemical and therapeutic constituent for the future use in the medical field.

This study was designed to explore antinociceptive potential of ascorbic acid using three different popular models of nociception. These models included tail flick method, hot plate method and writhing test. Ascorbic acid was administered orally at the dose of 300 mg per kg per oral and antinociceptive potential was noted at different time intervals using three models. Effects of ascorbic acid were also compared with standard drug acetylsalicylic acid. Results revealed that ascorbic acid has significant antinocicpetive effect in all three models showing potent analgesic potential of ascorbic acid. Increase in latency to withdraw tail in tail flick method showed that ascorbic has a central antinociception mechanism. Time to jump off from the hot plate was significantly increased that also suggest ascorbic acid’s central mechanism of action. Moreover, highly significant decrease in number of writhes by ascorbic acid suggests action of ascorbic acid by inhibition of COX-II. Therefore, ascorbic acid can be suggested as a potential agent in managing different pain conditions.