Abstract

Medicinal plants have recently gained popularity and are now commonly used to treat a variety of diseases. The aim of this research was to evaluate antioxidant and anti-lipase activities of two commonly used medicinal plants in vitro. The solvents like chloroform, acetone and 70 % ethanol were used to extract the dried leaves of Momordica charantia and Psoralea corylifolia. Folin-Ciocateu’s reagent and the aluminum chloride colorimetry process were used to determine the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, respectively. Further the extracts were screened for in vitro antioxidant activity, analyzed by 2,2-diphenyl- 1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. Using pancreatic lipase enzyme inhibition, the anti-lipase potential of extracts was studied and compared to that of the reference drug orlistat. The phytochemical analysis revealed that the ethanol extract of Momordica charantia had the highest total phenolic and total flavonoid content (89.96±0.29 mg gallic acid equivalents/g of dry extract; 82.55±0.03 mg quercetin equivalents/g of dry extract, respectively) of all the plant extracts examined. The ethanol extract of Momordica charantia exhibited substantial radical scavenging and ferric reducing potential, with IC50 values of 96.85±0.04 μg/ml and 99.43±0.06 μg/ml, respectively. Anti-lipase activity was found in all of the extracts. The ethanol extract of Momordica charantia, on the other hand, demonstrated strong anti-lipase activity, with an IC50 value of 27.70±0.15 μg/ml (p< 0.01). The standard drug orlistat (18.15±0.34 μg/ml) showed the greatest anti-lipase activity. Overall, Momordica charantia leaf extracts exhibited greater antioxidant and anti-lipase activity than Psoralea corylifolia. Momordica charantia and Psoralea corylifolia were found to be powerful antioxidants and pancreatic lipase inhibitors. A daily supplement of these plants, according to our findings, can aid in the reduction of obesity.