Abstract

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY AND IDENTIFICATION OF HYPERICIN FROM HYPERICUM CORDIFOLIUM AN ENDEMIC SPECIES FROM NEPAL

Sukriti Srivastava, Siddhi Srivastava, Mujeeba Rehman, Rishabh Chaudhary, Vipul Agarwal Arjun Singh Kausik and Vikas Mishra*

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Abstract

Medicinal plants have long been a reliable source of bioactive compounds, contributing significantly to modern drug discovery. The Hypericum genus, known for its diverse pharmacological properties, contains over 490 species, including Hypericum perforatum, which has been extensively studied for its antidepressant and anti-inflammatory activities. However, other species, such as Hypericum cordifolium, remain underexplored despite their traditional use in inflammatory disorders, burns, and infections. This study investigates the phytochemical composition and anti-inflammatory potential of H. cordifolium, focusing on the extraction and characterization of hypericin, a key bioactive compound. The methanolic extract of Hypericum was first subjected for phytochemical screening and then for biological activity i.e. anti-inflammatory property in vitro using egg albumin denaturation assay. The phytochemical screening revealed presence of phenols alkaloids flavonoids in the extract. The antiinflammatory property was comparable with diclofenac 83%% and the extract 78.49 % of at 1000 μg/ml of protein denaturation using egg albumin. The presence of hypericin was screened by using HPLC at the retention time of 9.7 mins for hypericin in the methanolic extract and 9.8 min in hypericin standard. Thus, these findings suggest that H. cordifolium possesses significant anti-inflammatory potential, with hypericin as a key bioactive compound, supporting its therapeutic relevance in drug discovery.

Keywords: Hypericin, Hypericum cordifolium, HPLC, phytochemical screening, Prote in denaturation assay.