Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 25(2), Mar – Apr 2014; Article No. 06, Pages: 28-32 ISSN 0976 – 044X International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research Available online at www.globalresearchonline.net 28 Prashanta Kr. Deb 1* , Ranjib Ghosh 2 , Raja Chakraverty 3 , Rajkumar Debnath 2 , Lakshman Das 2 , Tejendra Bhakta 4 1 Department of Pharmacy, Tripura University (A Central University), Suryamaninagar, Agartala, Tripura (W), India. 2 Department of Pharmacology, Tripura Medical College & Dr. BRAM Teaching Hospital, Hapania, Agartala, Tripura (W), India. 3 Bengal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research, Durgapur, West Bengal, India. 4 Regional Institute of Pharmaceutical Science & Technology, Abhoynagar, Agartala, Tripura (W), India. * Corresponding author’s E-mail: shaandeb2010@gmail.com Accepted on: 13-01-2014; Finalized on: 31-03-2014. ABSTRACT The present study focused on the preliminary phytochemical screening and pharmacological evaluation of the dried fruit extract of Solanum indicum Linn. on experimental animal models of a variety of ailments viz. pain, fever, inflammation and CNS complication. The acute toxicity study as per OECD guidelines 423 revealed the drug to be safe till a dose of 2000 mg/ kg. Adult Wistar albino rats (180-200 gm) of either sex were used for the study and subdivided into four (4) groups (n=6). The extract was evaluated for its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and CNS depressant activity. Statistical analysis was done through one way ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey’s multiple comparison tests. Phytochemical screening of MeOH extract revealed the presence of flavonoids, steroid, tannin, glycosides and saponins among other constituents. The main findings depicted that the crude MeOH extract of the dried fruits of Solanum indicum Linn. Exhibited statistically significant analgesic (P ≤ 0.05), antipyretic (P ≤ 0.05), analgesic (P ≤ 0.05) and CNS depressant activity (P ≤ 0.05) on the established animal models. Experimental evidences lead to the hypothesis that MeOH extract of Solanum indicum Linn. fruit possesses pharmacological activity which satisfies the claim of traditional medicinal uses. Keywords: Analgesic, Antipyretic, Anti-inflammatory, CNSdepressant activity, Solanum indicum Linn. Fruit. INTRODUCTION atural products from medicinal plants, either as pure compounds or as standardized extracts, provide unlimited opportunities for new drug leads because of the unmatched availability of chemical diversity. Due to an increasing demand for chemical diversity in screening programs, seeking therapeutic drugs from natural products, interest particularly in edible plants has grown throughout the world. Many beneficial biological activity such as anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, analgesic and wound healing activity were reported from various plants. In many cases the people claim the good benefit of certain natural or herbal products. However, pre-clinical and clinical trials are necessary to demonstrate the effectiveness of a bioactive compound to verify this traditional claim. 1 Solanum indicum Linn. (Synonym: Solanum anguivi) belongs to the family Solanaceae commonly known as Byakur, Guta begun, Kata begun, Brihati, Indian Night shade etc. It is a bushy herb containing prickly spikes in the stem and available throughout the India and all over the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. 2,5 The fruits are edible and traditionally used to treat various diseases. The different parts (fruits, leaves, roots) of this plant used by the traditional practitioners in the treatment of loss of appetite and anorexia, blood disorders, rhinitis, cough, asthma, sore throat and hiccup, sexual disorders, abdominal pain and worm infestation, pain and fever, inflammation, insomnia, urinary complications, cardiac weakness etc. It has been reported earlier, fruits and roots of this plant contains wax, fatty acids, alkaloid solanine and solanidine, disogenin, lanosterol, β-sitosterol, solasornine, solamargine and solasidine etc. 2-5 However, the medicinal properties have not been properly reported in previous studies. This led to the present team to investigate into the preliminary phytochemistry and pharmacological action of the crude methanolic extract (ME) of fruits of Solanum indicum Linn. MATERIALSAND METHODS Drugs & Chemicals used Brewer’s Yeast (S igma, USA), Carrageenan (Sigma, USA), carboxy methyl cellulose (Fisher Scientific), Aspirin, Diclofenac Sodium, Diazepam, Paracetamol. All the APIs were collected from State Drug Testing Laboratory, Gurkhabasti, Agartala, Tripura (W) as a gift sample. All the solvents and reagents were purchased from Rankem Lab., Okhla Industrial area, New Delhi were analytical grade and used without further purification. Source of plant material, extraction & preparation of test sample The fresh fruits (berries) of Solanum indicum Linn. were collected from the local market (Lake Chowmuhani Bazar, Agartala, West Tripura) and authenticated (Voucher specimen No. SI001/ RIPSAT/ TU/ 2012) by Prof. B. K. Datta, Taxonomist, Plant Taxonomy & Biodiversity Research Phytochemical and Pharmacological Evaluation of Fruits of Solanum indicum Linn. N Research Article