Abstract

Prunes are dried fruits of several species of Prunus, including that of Prunus domestica Linn (Rosaceae) and are used for the treatment of hypertension in traditional systems of medicine in India and Pakistan. We investigated the blood pressure lowering, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory and diuretic activities of the aqueous-methanolic crude extract of dried fruits of P. domestica (Pd.Cr.) in rats. Intravenous administration of the Pd Cr decreased mean arterial blood pressure, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of the ketamine-diazepam anesthetized normotensive rats dose-dependently, at the dose range of 1 to 30 mg/kg. In vitro, the extract was fond to have serum ACE inhibitory activity, with IC₅₀value of 1.102 mg/ml. The extract did not increase urine output in rats. The study concludes that the crude extract of prunes has hypotensive and ACE inhibitory activities, which provides scientific justification for its traditional uses as cardioprotective and antihypertensive remedy.

Key words: Prunes, Prunus domestica, hypotensive, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, diuretic.