Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activity of petroleum ether extract from Moringa oleifera in Albino rats

Moringa oleifera is a fast growing deciduous small or middle sized tree up to 10m tall and 30cm in diameter. It is a soft wood tree. M. oleifera belonging to the family Moringaceae is taken for the study to justify and prove its folkloric use. From the literature survey it was found that no substantial work has been carried out to isolate the phytoconstituents and to screen the anti-inflammatory activity of M. oleifera root bark. Hence an effort has been made to carry out the phytochemical investigation and to screen the anti-inflammatory activity by carrageenan induced rat paw oedema to determine the activity on acute inflammation and cotton pellet induced granuloma to determine activity on chronic inflammation. Chemical investigation of the root bark of M. oleifera led to the isolation of ursolic acid, taraxerone and octacosanoic acid from Petroleum ether soluble fraction of methanolic extract. These constituents were isolated for the first time from this plant. The petroleum ether extract showed significant anti-inflammatory activity. The activity may be due to ursolic acid, taraxerone and octacosanoic acid. From the pharmacological studies carried out, it is evident that petroleum ether extract of M. oleifera endowed significant anticancer activity, thereby justifying their use in traditional system of medicine as anti-inflammatory.