Screening of selected medicinal plants for their enzyme inhibitory potential - a validation of their ethnopharmacological uses

ABSTRACT

In present study four medicinal plants namely Valeriana wallichii, Xanthium strumarium, Achyranthes aspera and Duchesnea indica belonging to different families were collected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and crude extract and subsequent fractions were analyzed for their inhibitory potential against acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase and alpha-glucosidase enzymes. Valeriana wallichii, Xanthium strumarium and Achyranthes aspera were significantly active against cholinesterases. Chloroform and ethylacetate fractions of Valeriana wallichii exhibited significant activity against acetylcholinesterase [IC50 61microg/ml] and butyrylcholinesterase enzymes [IC50 58microg/ml], respectively. Similarly ethylacetate fraction of Achyranthes aspera showed significant activity against acetylcholinesterase [IC50 61 microg/ml] and butyrylcholinesterase enzymes [IC50 61 microg/ml], respectively. In case of alpha-glucosidase enzyme, the chloroform fraction of Xanthium strumarium exhibited significant inhibitory activity [IC50 72 microg/ml] as compared to the standard compound acarbose [IC50 483 microg/ml]. Duchesnea indica showed no such activities.