Abstract

Chenopodium album Linn is commonly consumed as vegetable and has been traditionally used for the treatment of hepatic disorders and inflammation. Standardization of C. albumwas carried out by using ultraviolet (UV)-spectrophotometer, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier transforms near infrared (FT-NIR) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The plant was extracted in ethanol and fractionated in ethyl acetate, chloroform, n-butanol and water. The crude extract and its fractions were tested in vitro on intestinal smooth muscles of rabbit. The crude extract exhibited a dose-dependent increase in relaxation of smooth muscles, starting from 5 mg/ml and maximum effect was found at 20 mg/ml (92.86%). All the fractions were administered to rabbit’s intestine at 15 mg/ml dose. The ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions of C. album exhibited relaxation of the intestinal muscles (43.48 and 51.52%, respectively); whereas, n-butanol fraction of C. album produced strong relaxant effect (91.18%). The contractile effect was only observed in aqueous fraction (29.41%). Overall, the activity produced by n-butanol fraction was found to be highly significant (by statistical analysis). Analgesic effect of the crude extract was carried out by tail flick method in mice. Significant analgesic effect was observed at 500 mg/kg dose from 30 min up till 210 min.

Key words: Chenopodium album Linn, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC),Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Fourier transforms near infrared (FT-NIR) smooth muscles, analgesic activity.