Evaluation of ethanol and aqueous extracts of cinnamomum verum leaf galls for potential antioxidant and analgesic activity

In the present study, ethanol and aqueous extracts of leaf galls of Cinnamomum verum were prepared to evaluate the antioxidant activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging assay and superoxide radical scavenging assay with ascorbic acid as a standard, and analgesic activity by tail immersion test and acetic acid-induced writhing test methods using diclofenac sodium as the reference drug. Swiss albino mice maintained under standard laboratory conditions were used for analgesic tests. In the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay it was found that the aqueous and the ethanol extract possessed almost equal capacity to inhibit free radicals (IC 50 =13.3 and 13.53 mu g/ml) but found less than ascorbic acid (IC 50 =9.96 mu g/ml). And in superoxide assay the ethanol extract was found to be more potent in scavenging super oxide radicals when compared to ascorbic acid and the aqueous extract (IC 50 =237.1 and 197.8 mu g/ml) with the IC 50 =119.7 mu g/ml. For analgesic activity, ethanol extract showed the maximum time required for response against thermal stimuli (6.750.47 s) and maximum % of writhing inhibition (44.57%) when compared to aqueous extract (5.250.48 s and 32.61%), whereas diclofenac showed response in 7.250.25 s 67.39% inhibition in tail immersion and writhing tests, respectively. These results demonstrate that the ethanol extracts of leaf galls possessed high antioxidant and analgesic activity.