Positive Health Online

Abstract

ARORA and colleagues, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India, jroshl@rediffmail.com, introduce Indian medicinal plants as a reservoir of protective phytochemicals.

Background

Plant secondary metabolites have long been of interest to man for their pharmacological properties. In this study, extracts of native Indian plants were assayed for their antimutagenic activity.

Methodology

Acetone extracts of the plants Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia nilotica, Juglans regia, and the fruit powder of Terminalia bellerica, Terminalia chebula, Emblica officinalis, and a combination drug, "Triphalia", were tested for antimutagenic activity in a bacterial model system.

Results

Extracts of all the plants tested exhibited significant antimutagenic activity, especially the extract of Acacia nilotica.

Conclusion

Extracts of the medicinal plants under study have potential antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects which warrant further investigation.

References

Arora S, Kaur K, Kaur S. Indian medicinal plants as a reservoir of protective phytochemicals. Teratogenesis, Carcinogenesis, and Mutagenesis Suppl 1: 295-300, 2003.