Spectrophotometric estimation of total polysaccharides in Cassia tora gum.

Seed galactomannans commonly known as seed gums, are important food hydrocolloids used all over the world in different industries. They exhibit excellent binding, suspending, emulsifying, thickening, stabilizing and water-holding properties and could be utilized for the preparation of pharmaceutical dosage forms like tablets, syrups, suspensions, lotions, ointments and for sustained drug release systems. The present paper deals with the spectrophotometric estimation of total polysaccharide content of the gum obtained from Cassia tora seeds collected from Jalgaon region (Maharashtra). The gum was isolated by precipitation method & evaluated for total polysaccharide content using Phenol – sulphuric acid method. The total polysaccharide content in Cassia tora gum was found to be 77 %w/w.

Antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic activity of Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. leaves and calyces extracts in rats.

Antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic activities of the extracts of leaves and calyces of Hibiscus sabdariffa were investigated by studying their in vitro inhibitory activity on lipid peroxidation and in vivo effects on cholesterol induced hyperlipidemia. Highest antioxidant activity was exhibited by ethanolic extract of calyces followed by ethanolic extract of leaves followed by aqueous extract of leaves of H. sabdariffa. In cholesterol induced hyperlipidemic model, groups of rats treated with extracts of calyces and leaves of H. sabdariffa showed a significant decrease in the serum TC, LDL-C, VLDL-C, TAG values alongwith an increase in serum HDL-C levels. The treated groups also showed significant decrease in the atherogenic index, LDL-C: HDL-C risk ratios, and in the levels of SGOT, SGPT and ALP activities compared to cholesterol induced hyperlipidemic control group. Significant antihyperlipidemic activity was shown by ethanolic extract of calyces, followed by ethanolic extract of leaves. It was observed from the histopathological findings that rats fed with H. sabdariffa extracts showed decrease in granular degeneration caused by cholesterol feedings. Results suggest that the ethanolic extracts of calyces and leaves of H. sabdarifa containing polyphenols and flavanols possess significant antioxidant and antihyperlipidemic activities.