Phytochemical Screening of leaves of Plumeria rubra

Plumeria rubra, a 7-8 m tall tree from the family Apocynaceae was investigated for its phytochemical & pharmacological activities. For these purposes the concentrated ethanolic extract of the leaves were used. The crude extract was tested for the presence of different chemical groups and the following groups were identified- Reducing sugar, Gum, Alkaloid, Steroid and Tannins. The biological interest of these compounds, coupled with the use of this plant in traditional medicine prompted us to check Plumeria rubra for antioxidant, antimicrobial and analgesic activity. The antioxidant test was performed that showed antioxidant property and IC50 of the sample was 39 µg/mL . The antimicrobial activity of the ethanolic extract of Plumeria rubra was investigated by disc diffusion method, which showed activity against Salmonella typhi. Moreover, The extract of leaves produced significant writhing inhibition in acetic acid induced writhing in mice at the oral dose of 500 mg/kg body weight (P<0.05), which was comparable to the standard drug Diclofenac sodium at the dose of 25 mg/kg of body weight.