id538718 pdfMachine by Broadgun Software - a great PDF writer! - a great PDF creator! - http://www.pdfmachine.com http://www.broadgun.com ISSN : 0974 - 7508 Volume 8 Issue 5 Natural PrAon dInduian cJoturnsal Trade Science Inc. Natural Products Review NPAIJ, 8(5), 2012 [189-193] A review on Luffa acutangula K.N.P.Gowtham*, I.J.Kuppast, K.L.Mankani Department of Pharmacology, National College of Pharmacy, Balaraj Urs Road, Shimoga - 577201, Karnataka, (INDIA) E-mail : [email protected] Received: 14th March, 2012 ; Accepted: 14th April, 2012 ABSTRACT KEYWORDS Many neutraceuticals are not very popular but they are having great po- Luffa acutangula; tential to produce certain pharmacological properties. Study of evidence Hepatoprotective activity; ’s can become the foundation for further re- based scientific reporting Antidiabetic activity; search keeping in view of the Phytochemical constituents and their phar- Antioxidant macological responses. Luffa acutangula is one such plant which has not antiproliferative; grabbed considerable attention. This article was designed with an inten- Antiangiogenic effects. tion to provide complete review of its Pharmacognostic details, Phyto- chemical constituents and Pharmacological activities. © 2012 Trade Science Inc. - INDIA INTRODUCTION ceutical companies are currently conducting ex- tensive research on plant materials for their poten- Plants have had and still have a key role in tial medicinal value. history of life on earth. Plants have been part of Luffa acutangula (Family: Cucurbitaceae) is our lives since the beginning of time; we get nu- commonly known as Ridge gourd. It is a widely merous products from plants, most of them not growing vegetative climber. The fruits are base only beneficial but also crucial to our existence. ball club shaped. Various pharmacological activi- Before the onset of synthetic era, man was com- ties include hepatoprotective activity[1], antidia- pletely dependent on medicinal herbs for preven- betic activity[2], antioxidant activity[3], fungistatic tion and treatment of diseases. Plants have property[4], CNS depressant activity[5] etc. Its evolved the ability to synthesize chemical com- chemical constituents were found to be carbohy- pounds that help them, defend against attack from drates, carotene, fat, protein, phytin, aminoacids, a wide variety of predators such as insects, fungi, alanine, arginine, cystine, glutamicacid, lysine, herbivorous mammals. By chance, some of these hydroxyproline, leucine, lectin, serine, trypto- compounds whilst being toxic to plant predators phan, pipecolic acid[6-8]. It has a good hepatopro- turnout to have beneficial effects when used to tective potential and supports the claims made in treat human diseases. The use of plants to heal or folklore medicine. Though many activities of combat illness is as old as humankind. In the pre- L.acutangula were reported, its potential as a sent scenario, the demand for herbal products is pharmacological aid has to be still explored. An- growing throughout the world and major pharma- cient literature concludes that the plant is signifi- 190 A review on Luffa acutangula NPAIJ, 8(5) 2012 Review cantly used as abortifacient and antifungal agent. Cultivation: Luffa acutangula can grow in all [9]The plant is known as Sanskrit: Gantali, Kosa- type of soils and can be grown in summer or in taki, and Ksweda. Hindi: Jhimani, Karvitarui, rainy season. Seeds can accordingly be sown ei- Karvituri, Sankirah, Rantorai. Punjabi: ther in february-march or june-july. Jhinga,Shirola. English: Ridge gourd, Chinese Standards: Studies conducted on identity, purity okra, Ribbed loofah, Silk gourd. Bengali: Ti- and strength of Luffa acutangula revealed that it totorai, Titojhinga, Titodhundal, Jhinga, Ghosha- contains[24]. lata. Kannada: Kahire, Kahi Heere, Naaga daali Total ash content not more than 16%, balli. Malayalam: Athanga. Marathi: Divali, Foreign matter not more than 2%, Kadudodaki, Kadushirali, Kaduturai, Ranturai, Dadudodaka. Tamil: Itukari, Itukarikkoti, Kacappi, Kacappuppirkku, Kaccam, Kaippup- pirkku, Karniti. Telugu: Adavibira, Chedubira, Sendubirai, Adavi beera, Chathi beera. PHARMACOGNOSY Taxonomical classification Kingdom: Plantae, Division: Magnoliophyta, Class: Magnoliopsida, Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae, Genus: Luffa, Species: acutangula. DESCRIPTION Figure 1 : Leaves of Luffa acutangula Luffa acutangula is a large monoious climber. Stems: It has 5 angled glabrous stem and 3-fid tendril. Leaves: All leaves of this plants are orbicular, pale green in colour 15-20 cm across and pal- mately 5-7 angled or lobed. Veins and veinlets are prominent. Fruits: Fruits of Luffa acutangula are obovate, pale yellowish brown in colour, 4-10 cm long, 2- 4cm broad and outer surface being covered with 8 -10 prominent longitudinal ribs. The fruits are di- vided into 3 chambers. The inner part is fibrous and easily detachable as a whole from the outer Figure 2 : Fruit of Luffa acutangula part. Taste is bitter. Transverse section through a rib shows a single layer of papillose epidermis covered with thick striated cuticle. It is followed by 4-6 layers of parenchymatous cells. Distribution: Luffa acutangula is pantropical and cultivated throughout India. Habit: Herb. Propagation: Propagation of L.acutangula is by seeds. Native range: India and naturalised tropic and subtropics. Figure 3 : Seeds of Luffa acutangula NaturalA Pn Irnodiadn uJoucrntasl NPAIJ, 8(5) 2012 K.N.P.Gowtham et al. 191 Review [10] Acid-insoluble ash not more than 4%, combining site of the lectin were studied. Water soluble extract not more than 13% Luffangulin, a novel ribosome inactivating pep- Alcohols soluble extract not more than 6%. tide with an N-terminal sequence, was isolated from seeds of Luffa acutangula. The 5.6 kDa- PHYTOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS peptide designated luffangulin inhibited cell-free translation with an IC50 of 3.5 nM but lacked in- Chemical constituents of Luffa acutangula hibitory activity toward HIV-1 reverse transcrip- [19] mainly include carbohydrates, carotene ,fat, tase.[12]A bitter principle, Cucurbitacin B, an acid protein, phytin, aminoacids, alanine, arginine, sapogenin, oleanolic acid were isolated from the cystine, glutamicacid, glycine, hydroxyproline, seeds of Luffa acutangula.[15] [8] leucine, serine, tryptophan, pipecolic acid , fla- The study of nutritional and oil characterister- [20] [21] vonoids , saponins . The fruit contains an ics of the Luffa acutangula seeds showed that it amorphous bitter principle, luffeine. The seeds has Iodine value, saponification value and acid contain a fixed oil which consists of the glyc- value as 99.5, 190.8 and 10.5 respectively. The [22] erides of palmitic, stearic, and myristic acids. maximum melting and freezing points were found °C and °C respectively. Lectin specific for chito-oligosaccharides was to be -3 -10 [14] isolated from Luffa acutangula and has been pu- rifed to homogenity by affinity chromatography NUTRITIONAL COMPOSITION and its macromolecular properties and combining affinity with different sugars was studied. The The seeds of Luffa acutangula were studied for studies revealed that lectin has a molecular weight potential nutritional and oil characteristics. The fatty of 48,000 and stokes radius of 2.9 nm. When so- acid profile indicates that the glycerides of oleic and dium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electo- linoleic acid constitute 68% of the total kernel oil. The phoresis was performed, only single band corre- seeds were also found to be a good source of certain sponding to molecular weight of 24,000 was ob- amino acids, phosphorous, iron and magnesium.[14] served both in the presence as well as absence of 2- mercaptoethanol. The subunits in this dimeric ETHANOMEDICAL PROPERTIES lectin are therefore held by non-covalent interac- The ethano medico botanical survey of the hilly tions alone. The lectin is not a glycoprotein and areas in Maharashtra revealed that fruits of Luffa circular dichroism spectral studies indicate that this á ß acutangula are used to protect from jaundice when lectin has 31% -helix and no -sheet. The lectin is taken in the form of very fine powder through nose.[19] found to bind specifically to chito oligosaccharides and the affinity of the lectin increases with increas- PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDIES ing oligosaccharide chain length as monitored by near ultra-violet circular dichroism and intrinsic Hepatoprotective activity fluorescence titration. The thermodynamic data revealed that binding site in lectin accommodates a Hydroalcoholic extract of Luffa acutangula Ç tetrasaccharide and the values of G, and S for (HAELA) was tested for hepatoprotective activity. the binding process showed a pronounced depend- Standard drug used was silymarin. HAELA ence on the size of the oligosaccharide.[7] showed significant hepatoprotection against CCl4 A chito oligosaccharide specific lectin (Luffa and rifampicin induced hepatotoxicity in rats. acutangula agglutinin) has been purified from the Hepatoprotective action of HAELA was due to the exudate of ridge gourd fruits by affinity chroma- decreased levels of serum marker enzymes tography on soybean agglutinin glycopeptides (AST,ALT,ALP and LDH) and increased total pro- coupled to Sepharose-6B. The affinity purified tein including the improvement in histoarchitecture lectin was found homogeneous by polyacrylamide of liver cells of the treated groups as compared to gel electrophoresis. Based on the thermodynamic the control group. HAELA also showed significant data,