Phytochemical Profiling and Evaluation of Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Analgesic and Antidiarrheal Properties of Xanthosoma nigrum Leaves

Abstract

Xanthosoma nigrum is a tropical rare plant species of Aracea family. This research work aimed to evaluate phytochemical screening and selected biological activities of the plant species. Crude ethanolic leaf extract was fractionated further by using n-hexane and chloroform. Phytochemical screening revealed that almost all extractives contained important chemical constituents, including alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, and reducing sugars. In DPPH free radical scavenging assay, the ethanol fraction showed strong inhibition of 69% at the highest concentration, 2000 µg/ml. The IC₅₀ value of the ethanol extract was 21.47 µg/ml, which also suggested the evidence of strong activity of the ethanol extract. In anti-inflammatory and membrane stabilization tests, the plant showed dose dependent gradual increase of activities. Among the three extracts, the ethanolic fraction demonstrated the greatest inhibition (83.19%) of acetic acid–induced writhing in experimental animals during the analgesic assay. The plant species also showed notable antidiarrheal effects in the castor oil–induced diarrhea model. Overall, these results indicate that this plant may serve as a promising source for discovering new drug candidate.