ABSTRACT:
Trichosanthes cucumerina L, Cucumis sativus L., Coccinia grandis L. Voigt, Trichosanthes dioica Roxb., Cucurbita pepo L are some common food plants consumed throughout India. They belong to the cucurbitaceae family. Cucurbitacin E and their glycosides are abundant in these plants having different pharmacological activity along with some toxic effects. The present work deals with the standardization of these common food plants with cucurbitacin E and their screening their antilipase activity. Hydroalcoholic extract of fruits of these plants were prepared and subjected to phytochemical analysis. The extracts were then standardized and validated by HPTLC and RP-HPLC with the phytomarker cucurbitacin E. Henceforth they were screened for lipase (Porcine pancreatic lipase Type-II) inhibitory activity using p- nitrophenyl caprylate (PNPC) as the substrate and Orlistat as standard. The reaction was monitored in microplate reader and absorbance recorded at 405 nm at 37°C. The activity of different concentrations of control, test and standard were compared. Cucurbitacin E was found to be in a range of 0.12-1.7% w/w both HPTLC and RP-HPLC studies. It was found that Cucumis sativus L possessed significant lipase inhibitory activity with an ICso of 1.85 pg/ml when compared to standard Orlistat (ICs 0.25ug/ml). it was then followed by Coccinia grandis L. (3.87 pg/ml) Trichosanthes dioica Roxb (5.8 ug/ml Trichosanthes cucumerina L., (19.87 µg/ml) Cucurbita pepo L(39.87 Hg/ml) This study shows the potential of these plants to be a source of antiobesity drug in future. Further work is underway to explore the mechanism of inhibition.