ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SECONDARY METABOLITES AND EVALUATION OF BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF Hygrophila erecta (Burm.f.) Hochr.

Hygrophila erecta (Burm.f.) Hochr. belonging to the Acanthaceae family, is a moisture loving genera and a perennial herb whose seeds are used as a skin-regenerating product. The concentrated ethyl acetate soluble fraction of methanolic extract of this whole plant resulted in a mixture of a mixture of 4-methoxybenzoic acid and 4-methoxycinnamic acid, another mixture of two ester derivatives: methyl linoleate and methyl stearate, lupeol, β-Sitosterol and Stigmasterol. The crude methanolic extract of the whole plant was partitioned to petroleum ether soluble fraction, chloroform soluble fraction, ethyl acetate soluble fraction and aqueous soluble fraction for the purpose of investigations of different biological activities. The ethyl acetate soluble fraction expressed the highest antioxidant property in DPPH free radical scavanging method, whilst the different extractives exhibited moderate to strong cytotoxicity in brine shrimp lethality test and the highest activity was shown by pet ether soluble fraction. Furthermore, the pet ether soluble fraction also demonstrated highest thrombolytic activity compared to the standard streptokinase, while the other fractions showed moderate to lower activity. However, no antimicrobial activity was observed for any of the fractions investigated using standard tetracycline and ciprofloxacin. The methanolic extract further produced statistical significant peripheral analgesic and antidiarrheal activity at both 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg doses. Although, it expressed blood glucose lowering activity, but it was not statistical significant.