Abstract

“ANTICANCEROUS AND ANTIOXIDANT INVESTIGATIONS ON THE HERBAL EXTRACT OF CATHARANTHUS PUSILLUS (MURRAY) G. DON”

Anju Chandran and Oommen P. Saj*

Abstract

Catharanthus pusillus (Murray) G. Don of the family Apocynaceae, is a common weed growing widely in various parts of Kerala. It is used as one of the important drug in traditional system of medicine to treat various ailments. Phytochemical analysis of whole plant extract showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenol, flavonoids, steroids, carbohydrate and proteins. A few studies showed the extract possess anti-cancerous and pain relieving properties. Hence the present study is concentrated on the anti-cancerous and antioxidant activity of this. The antioxidant activity was determined by three methods DPPH (1, 1- diphenyl -2- picryl hydroxyl) assay, super oxide radical scavenging assay and reducing power assay. Anticancer activity was done by using cell line MCF-7.

Keywords: Catharanthus pusillus, Apocynaceae, Phytoconstituents, Antioxidant.