Abstract

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY OF BAUHINIA PURPUREA L

H. Ramana*, R. Vasanthi, G. Venkateshwarlu, K. Praveen and D. Thirumal

Abstract

The objective of present work was to evaluate the anthelmintic activity of methanol and aqueous extract of flower of Bauhinia purpurea L. using Indian earthworms Pheretimaposthuma as test worm. Various concentrations of different extracts were tested in the bioassay, which involved determination of paralysis time and death time of the worm. Piperazine citrate (30mg/ml) was used as a reference standard. The result of present study indicates that the ethyl acetate and methanol extract significantly demonstrated paralysis, and also death of worms. Preliminary phytochemical tests revealed the presence of phytoconstituents such as steroids, tannins, glycosides, alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, and phenolic compounds in the aqueous and methanol extract of B. purpurea.

Keywords: Bauhinia purpurea, phytoconstituents and anthelmintic activity.