Phytochemistry and Pharmacological aspects of Murraya  koenigii  Linn.

 

Sobin K. Paul*, Sunil Goyal, Pooja Yadav, Shivani Yadav, Deeksha Parashari

Department of Pharmacology, Mahatma Gandhi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sitapura, Jaipur

*Corresponding Author E-mail:-

 

Murraya koenigii Linn. is small shrub tree, native to tropical Asia from Himalaya foothill’s of India to Srilanka eastward through Myanmar, Indonesia, Southern China and Hainan. In India it occurs in foothill of Himalaya, Assam, Sikkim, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is an important herb which is been used for centuries in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. The leaves of plant are use as tonic, stomachic, carminative, internally in dysentery also checking vomiting. Murraya koenigii Linn. are used as flavorings, condiment and folk medicine for the treatment of various metabolic and infectious diseases. Leaves ,fruits, roots and bark of the plant are a rich source of carbazole alkaloids which posses various pharmacological activities such as antitumor, antiviral, antiinflammatory, antipyretic, antimicrobial, antidibetic, antihypertensive, inotropic effect, hypolipedemic, antiulcer,antidiarrhoeal, antioxidant, anthelmintic, analgesic, antifungal, hepatoprotective, antiasthmatic,antiamnesic, immunomodulator, phagocytic, radioprotective, anticholinesterse, wound-healing nephroprotective, antitrichomonal, antipyretic, antiosteoporotic, antiprotozoal, larvicidal activity, apoptosis in human leukemic cells, trypsin inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, skin protective, seed protective,and cure piles.  It is also effective against colon carcinogensis. The various parts of this plant are widely used by different tribal communities. Following various claims for cure the numerous diseases, efforts have been made by researchers to verify the efficacy of the plant through scientific biological screening. The present review is an attempt to highlight various phytochemical and pharmacological reports of Murraya koenigii Linn.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Murraya koenigii Linn. is small shrub tree, native to tropical Asia from Himalaya foothill’s of India to Sri Lanka eastward through Myanmar, Indonesia, Southern China and Hainan. In India it occurs in foothill of Himalaya, Assam, Sikkim, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.¹ It is an important herb which is been used for centuries in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. The leaves of plant are use as tonic, stomachic, carminative, internally in dysentery also checking vomiting. Murraya koenigii Linn. are used as flavorings, condiment and folk medicine for the treatment of various metabolic and infectious diseases.

 

Leaves, fruits, roots and bark of the plant are a rich source of carbazole alkaloids which posses various pharmacological activities such as antitumor, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antimicrobial, antidibetic, antihypertensive, inotropic effect, hypolipedemic, antiulcer, antidiarrhoeal, antioxidant, anthelmintic, analgesic, antifungal, hepatoprotective, antiasthmatic, antiamnesic, immunomodulator, phagocytic, radioprotective, anticholinesterse, wound-healing nephroprotective, antitrichomonal, antipyretic, antiosteoporotic, antiprotozoal, larvicidal activity, apoptosis in human leukemic cells, trypsin inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor, skin protective, seed protective,and cure piles.  It is also effective against colon carcinogensis. The various parts of this plant are widely used by different tribal communities. Following various claims for cure the numerous diseases, efforts have been made by researchers to verify the efficacy of the plant through scientific biological screening. The present review is an attempt to highlight various phytochemical and pharmacological reports of Murraya koenigii Linn. ^{1, 2}

 

 

Murraya koenigii Linn. (Rutaceae) commonly known as kari patta or Meethi neem In traditional system of medicine, it is used as antiemetic, antidiarrhoeal, dysentery, febrifuge, blood purifier, tonic, stomachic, flavouring agent in curries and chetneys^3,4. The oil is used externally for bruises, eruption, in soap and perfume industry⁵.It is reported to possess antioxiant, antibacterial, antifungal, anticarcinogenic, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antihypertensive activity The phytoconstituents isolated so far from the leaves are alkaloids, glycosides, volatile oils, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, sugar etc^6-8. The branches of Murraya koenigii are very popular for cleaning the         teeth^9,10. The study was undertaken to evaluate the anti inflammatory of Murraya koenigii in Winsar rats.

 

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Freshly collected leaves of Murraya koenigii from local habitat after authentication were shade dried and powdered to course powder size.

 

Extraction:

The powdered material was subjected to successive hot extraction (soxhlet) with various solvents in increasing order of polarity from Petroleum ether, Chloroform and Ethanol. After the complete extraction, the solvent was distilled off and concentrated on a water bath¹¹.

 

Phytochemical Screening of Extracts:

The extracts of Murraya koenigii Linn.were screened for the  presence of phytoconstituents like alkaloids, lycosides, volatile oils, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, sugar etc. that exerted physiological effect. The extracts were screened for the presence of different phytoconstituents like saponins (Frothing test),tannins (Ferric chloride test and Lead acetate test) alkaloids, (Dragendroff’s test, Meyer’s test, Hager’s test, and Wagner’s test)   glycosides (Brontrager’s test for anthraquinone and Killer-Killani’s test for cardiac glycosides), steroids (Salkowski test and Libarman-Burchard’s test) and flavonoids (Shinoda’s test, Ferric chloride test, and Pew test)¹².Leaves are aromatic and contain proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, carotene, nicotinic acid and vitamin C. It is rich in vitamin A. and calcium The leaves contain high amount of oxalic acid, leaves also contains crystalline glycosides, carbazole alkaloids, koenigin, resin, fresh leaves contain yellow color 2.5 % volatile oil.¹³

 

Pharmacological Screening:

Animal:

Albino rats, Wister strain, of weighing 150-200 gm were used for acute model. Rats were kept in polypropylene cages and fed on standard laboratory diet. The animals were exposed to 12 hours of darkness and light each. The bedding material of cages was changed every day.

 

Acute Toxicity Study:

Acute toxicity study was carried out according to OECD guidelines. The extracts were suspended in saline. The extracts were given to rats by oral route at a dose level of 500, 1000 and 2500 mg/kg body weight, to groups of 4 animals. After administration of extracts the rats were observed for gross behavioral, neurological, autonomic and toxic effects. The toxicological effects were observed in terms of mortality. No death occurred within 24 h of dose of 500, 1500 mg/kg but at a dose of 2500 mg/kg 50% mortality was observed. As dose was increased further up to 5000 mg/kg, at that dose all the animals were died. Hence 2500 mg/kg dose was considered as LD50. 1/10th of the LD50 was considered as an effective dose i.e. 250 mg/kg15.

 

Screening of Anti-Inflammatory Activity Carrageenan Induced Rat Paw Edema Method.¹⁴

Procedure:

Thirty minutes after drug or test compound (extracts) administration, 0.1 ml. of 1% carrageenan in distilled water was injected into the sub plantar region of right hind paws of all groups. A mark was put on the leg at the malleolus to facilitate uniform dipping at subsequent readings. The paw oedema volume was measured with the help of plethysmometer at zero hr. (Immediately after injecting carrageenan). The same procedure was repeated at 30 minutes 1, 2, 3 hours. The difference between 1 hours and subsequent hours reading was taken as actual oedema volume.

 

The percentage inhibition of paw oedema in the various treated groups was then calculated by using the formula;

 

Percentage inhibition = (1 – Vt/Vc) X 100

Where,

Vt = is the edema volume in the drug treated group.

Vc = is the edema volume in the control group.

Group I : Served as control and received 1ml water.

Group II : Treated with Carrageenan only.

Group III: Standard group Ibuprofen 50mg/kg.

Group IV : Petroleum ether extract 300 mg/kg.

Group V : Chloroform extract 300 mg/kg.

Group VI : Ethanol extract 300 mg/kg.

 

RESULTS:

Extraction

Table No.1:- The Percentage Yield of Petroleum Ether, Chloroform and Ethanol

Sr.No.	Solvent	Nature of Extract	Color	%Yield
1	Pet. Ether (40-60°C)	Semisolid	Greenish black	3.9
2	Chloroform	Semisolid	Dark green	3.1
3	Ethanol	Semisolid	Green	6.3

 

Table 2: The result of preliminary phytochemical screening of the plant extract.

Plant constituents	Ethanolic Extract	Pet. Ether Extract	Chloroform Extract
Alkaloid	+ve	+ve	+ve
Carbohydrates	ve	ve	ve
Proteins	+ve	+ve	+ve
Tannins	ve	ve	ve
Steroids +	+ve	+ve	+ve
Saponins	ve	ve	ve
	ve	ve	+ve

+ indicate Present and – Indicate Absent

 

Table No. 3:- Results of Anti-inflammatory activity of extracts

Group No.	Treatment	Dose	1hr	2hr	3hr	Average reading	%
			Mean±S.D	Mean±S.D	Mean±S.D
1	Carrageenan	0.1mL.1% sol.	43±0.08	1.50±0.06	1.42±0.04	1.45
2	Ibuprofen	50mg/kg	0.50±0.05	0.60±0.06	0.64±0.04	0.58	60
3	Pet. Ether extract	250mg/kg	0.79±0.12	0.92±0.15	0.96±0.11	0.89	39
4	Ethanol extract	250mg/kg	0.89±0.17	0.90±0.09	1.10±0.12	0.93	36
5	Chloroform extract	250mg/kg	0.75±0.09	0.72±0.1	0.66±0.12	0.71	52

 

 

Evaluation of Anti- inflammatory Activity of Extract:

It was observed that Petroleum ether and chloroform extract did not show significant decrease in paw edema volume with respect to corresponding control. The Ethanolic extract gives significantly reduced paw edema volume

 

DISCUSSION:

The fresh leaves of Murraya koenigii was collected from local habitat after authentication were shade dried and powdered to course powder size. The powdered material was subjected to successive hot extraction (soxhlet) with various solvents in increasing order of polarity from Petroleum ether, Chloroform and Ethanol. After the complete extraction, the solvent was distilled off and concentrated on a water bath. The preliminary phytochemical screening of extracts of Murraya koenigii shows presence of mucilage, proteins, sterols and Triterpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds. Thus these activities of Murraya koenigii could be due to alkaloids, flavonoids and triterpenoids. Albino rats, Wister strain, of weighing 150-200 gm were used for acute model. Acute toxicity study was carried out according to OECD guidelines. The extracts were given to rats by oral route at a dose level of 500, 1000 and 2500 mg/kg body weight, to groups of 4 animals. No death occurred within 24 h of dose of 500, 1500 mg/kg but at a dose of 2500 mg/kg 50% mortality was observed. As dose was increased further up to 5000 mg/kg, at that dose all the animals were died. Hence 2500 mg/kg dose was considered as LD50. 1/10th of the LD50 was considered as an effective dose i.e. 250 mg/kg. The Carrageenan induced rat paw oedema has been a popular inflammatory model to investigate the anti inflammatory effect of compounds. It has a biphasic effect. The first phase is due to release of histamine and serotonin (5HT) (0-2hr), plateau phase is maintained by kinin like substance (3hr) and second accelerating phase of swelling is attributed to P.G. release (>4hr)¹⁰. In this study ethanolic extract of Murraya koenigii (250mg/kg, p. o.) significantly reduces oedema induced by carrageenan in all the phases. Hence it can be concluded that ethanolic extract of Murraya koenigii possess anti inflammatory activity that may be mediated by alkaloids, flavonoids and triterpenoids.

 

CONCLUSION:

In this study ethanolic extract of Murraya koenigii (250mg/ kg, p.o.) significantly reduces oedema induced by carrageenan in all the phases. Hence it can be concluded that ethanolic extract of Murraya koenigii possess anti inflammatory activity.

 

REFERENCES:

1.        S. D. Bonde , L. S. Nemade , M. R. Patel , A. A. Patel Int. J. Pharm. Phytopharmacol. Res., Murraya koenigii (Curry leaf): Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology - A Review; Res. 2011, 1(1): 23-27

2.        Priyanka Gupta ,Alok Nahata, Vinod K Dixit; Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine,; An update of  Murraya koenigii Spreng, an multifuntional Ayurvedic herb August 2011, Vol. 9,No. 8

3.        Mhaskar, K. S., Blatter, E., Caius, J. F., In; Kirtikar and Basu’s Illustrated Indian Medicinal Plants Their Usage in Ayurveda and Unani Medicine, Vol.- 3, Shri Satguru Publication, Delhi, 2000, 656-659.

4.        Parmar, C., Kaushal, M. K., In; Wild Fruits, Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi, 1982, 45-48.

5.        Prajapati ND, Purohit SS, Sharma AK, Kumar T. A Handbook of Medicinal Plants. Jodhpur: Agrobios, 2003: 352-353.

6.        Narasimhan NS, Paradkar MV, Kelkar SL. Alkaloids of Murraya koenigii, Structures of mahanine, koenine, koenigine and koenidine. Indian J Chem 1970; 8:473-476.275

7.        Narasimhan NS, Paradkar MV, Chitguppi VP, Kelkar SL. Alkaloids of Murraya koenigi, Structures of mahanimbine, koenimbine, mahanine, koenine, koenigine and koenidine. Indian J Chem 1975; 13: 993-995.

8.        Adebajo AC, Avoola OF, Iwalewa EO, Akindahunsi AA, Omisore NO, Cadewunmi CO et al. Anti-trichomonal, biochemical and toxicological activities of methanolic extract and some Carbazole alkaloids isolated from the leaves of Murraya koenigii growing in Nigeria. Phytomedicine 2006; 13(4): 246- 54.

9.        Tachibana Y, Kikuzaki H, Lajis NH, Nakatani N. Comparison of antioxidative properties of Carbazole alkaloids from Murraya koenigii leaves. J Agric Food Chem 2003; 51(22): 6461-7.

10.     Adebajo AC, Reisch J: Minor furocoumarins of Murraya koenigii. Fitoterpia 2000; 71(3): 334-7.

11.     Sumit Gupta, Padmaa M Paarakh, Usha Gavani. Isolation of Phytoconstituents from the leaves of Murraya koenigii Linn. Journal of Pharmacy Research 2009, 2(8),1313-1314.

12.     G.L. Gupta and S.S. Nigam. Chemical examination of the leaves of Murraya koenigii. Planta Med. 19: 83 (1970).

13.     S. Dutta. The Indian curry leaf tree and its essential oil. Indian Soap J. 23: 201 (1958).

14.     R.L. Khosa and S. Prasad. Pharmacognosy of roots of Murraya koenigii and Murraya paniculata. J. Res. Indian Med. 9(3): 105(1974).

 

 

Received on 12.12.2012          Modified on 13.01.2013

Accepted on 13.04.2013         © RJPT All right reserved