PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND IN-VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY POTENTIAL EVALUATIONS OF METHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF COCOS NUCIFERA (L.) LEAVES

Cocos nucifera (L.) (Arecaceae) is commonly called the ‘‘coconut tree’’ and is the most naturally widespread fruit plant on Earth. Throughout history, humans have used medicinal plants therapeutically, and minerals, plants, and animals have traditionally been the main sources of drugs. The objective in the present study was to screen the phytochemical profile and pharmacological activities of methanolic extract of coconut leaves. To investigate pharmacological activities DPPH scavenging assay and HRBC membrane stabilization methods were performed for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential respectively. The phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of coconut leaves showed that they contained significant presence of flavonoids, phenols , saponins, terpenoids and triterpenes. Alkaloids, glycosides and tannins are also moderately present. Quantitative evaluations show significant presence of phenols which was more than tannin content. The pharmacological studies revealed that the plant extracts may have significant antioxidant effect which is probably mediated by inhibition of DPPH free radical. The IC50 values by DPPH scavenging assay observed for standard and leaves were 97.29µg/ml and 486.78µg/ml respectively. Thus, this plant extracts have significant antioxidant effect. It also had moderate anti-inflammatory activity. The IC50 values for anti-inflammatory activity by standard and coconut leaves were 21.46 µg/ml and 831.21 µg/ml respectively. These findings suggest that Cocos nucifera (L.) may be a possible source for the development of a newanti-inflammatory drug.