Pharmacognostic evaluation and anthelmintic activity of leaf and stem extracts of Clinacanthus nutans Lindau

Abstract

Clinacanthus nutans Lindau (Vishamooli) is an exotic plant to India belonging to the family Acanthaceae. This plant has diverse potential medicinal uses in traditional herbal medicine and is well studied in South Asian Countries. In this study the physicochemical constants, phytochemical screening, total phenol quantification and anthelmintic property is evaluated. It is observed that the acetone and water extracts of leaf and stem had the same phenolic content. The anthelmintic activity of the aqueous extracts of leaves and stem was evaluated by using Pheretima posthuma as test worms. The time of paralysis and time of death were studied and the activity was compared with albendazole as reference standard. The aqueous extract of stem and leaves at 10mg/ml exhibited significant anthelmintic activity as evidenced by decreased paralyzing time and death time. The results thus support the use of C. nutans as an anthelmintic agent.