Antimalarial activity in Xylocarpus granatum (Koen)

Abstract

The antimalarial activity of Xylocarpus granatum fruits and their active constituents gedunin and xyloccensin-I were investigated using an in vitro model in this study. The chloroform fraction of X. granatum fruits was found to show promising antimalarial activity using an in vitro model of Plasmodium falciparum. On purification of the active fraction, four pure compounds were isolated and characterised, namely gedunin, photogedunin, xyloccensin-I and palmitic acid. Out of these only gedunin and xyloccensin-I were found to show activity equivalent to the parent active fraction in vitro model.

Keywords:

• antimalarial activity
• Xylocarpus granatum medicinal plant

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Council of Scientific and industrial Research, New Delhi for providing us excellent research facilities at Central Drug Research Institute Lucknow. We are grateful to the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi for providing financial assistance. We also acknowledge the staff of Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facilities (SAIF), CDRI, Lucknow for providing spectral data of the compounds for these studies.