Medicinally,
Leucas aspera has been confirmed to comprise broader pharmacological effectiveness viz., antioxidant, insecticide, antipyretic, chronic rheumatism, and cytotoxic activity etc. This plant is traditionally employed in the treatment of common infections viz., sore eyes and nose, fever, cough, skin eruptions, cold, wounds and sore throats. In this study, we intended to screen
phytochemical constituents, evaluate the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory capacities of different solvent extracts of
Leucas aspera leaves.
Leucas aspera leaves were collected, shade dried, fine powdered and subjected to
phytochemical extraction using methanol, ethanol, water and hydroalcohol. From the extracts, phenol content was estimated by Folin-Ciocalteau reagent method followed by antimicrobial activity by Kirby-Bauer and Micro dilution assay with four different pathogenic bacteria. Later, anti-inflammatory activity was performed by various enzymatic assays. Phytochemical screening of
Leucas aspera extract confirmed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, and tannins. The hydroalcoholic (MIC:۱۲.۵ µg/ml; MBC: ۲۵µg/ml) and ethanolic (MIC:۶.۲۵ µg/ml; MBC:۱۲.۵ µg/ml) extracts presented effective antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutants, and Propionibacterium acne. Amongst in vitro anti-inflammatory assays, hydroalcoholic extracts offered effective albumin denaturation (۱۸۳.۸±۳۱.۶µg/ml), heat induced haemolysis (۲۱۳.۴±۲۲.۳µg/ml) and considerable hypotonicity induced haemolysis (۲۷۷.۸±۲۹.۹µg/ml). The results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation and statistical interpretation was based on two-sided tests at a p ≤ ۰.۰۵ significance level. In this current study, it observed that
Leucas aspera holds a variety of valuable secondary metabolites, which embraces strong anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory activities, however further studies are necessary to assess its therapeutic use. . On the basis of existing experimentations, corresponding outcomes may set the foundation for impending research.
