doi.org/10.36721/PJPS.2022.35.5.REG.1357-1362.1 Pak. J. Pharm. Sci., Vol.35, No.5, September 2022, pp.1357-1362 1357 Diuretic and anti-diarrheal potential of four fruit extracts of Capsicum annum L. Nimra Mazhar 1,4* , Muhammad Mohtashem ul Hasan 1 , Sadia Ghousia Baig 2 , Salman Ahmed 1 , Razia Jaffery 3 and Rahila Ikram 2,3 1 Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan 2 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan 3 Faculty of Pharmacy, Salim Habib University, Karachi, Pakistan 4 Faculty of Health sciences, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan Abstract: Capsicum has been an important part of diet since centuries and has been widely used traditionally for ailments. The objective of the present analysis was to determine the diuretic and antidiarrheal potentials of four variations of Capsicum annum L. fruits available in local market of Karachi, Pakistan. It belongs to family Solanaceae and extracts were prepared in 95% ethanol and was given in doses of 200 and 400mg/kg and the activity was correlated with commonly used diuretics and anti-diarrheal further reinforcing its conventional use. Fruits extracts were evaluated for anti-diarrheal properties in castor-oil induced diarrhea to confirm its activity. The diuretic activity of the 95% ethanolic extracts of Capsicum annum L. was assessed based on diuresis of 24 hr. collected through metabolic cage. Urinary excretion of water and electrolytes (Na+ and K+) is significantly increased by the standard diuretic drug furosemide, which is comparable with the extract. The anti-diarrheal effects of 95% ethanolic extracts of Capsicum annum L. were examined by castor oil induced diarrhea and all varieties of Capsicum annum L. significantly inhibited the number of defecations. Keywords: Capsicum, bell pepper, capsaicin, diuretic, anti-diarrheal. INTRODUCTION Diarrhea is the prime source of mortality and morbidity in children in countries which are in developing phase, which contributes majorly in worldwide healthcare problems (Nithya, 2021). Similarly, in adults, heart failure, kidney problems, high blood pressure, edema, liver problems and glaucoma are emerging to be very common. Many people belonging to the low socio- economic class cannot afford medicine that can cure such diseases. Hence, they wait for the cure to come to them naturally, without any therapeutic intervention (Maramag, 2013). The traditional use of natural products that involves medicinal plants has enormously upgraded the pharmacotherapy of various diseases and provided principal compounds that have substantial therapeutic worth in different pathological conditions (Khan et al., 2020). There has been an increasing pattern of prevalence of pathologies such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Several studies exhibited that there has been an association between utilization of vegetables and fruits and the progression of such ailments (Yahia et al., 2011). Epidemiological investigations disclosed that fruits and vegetables contain antioxidant compounds which can eliminate a free radical chain reaction. Consequently, it has the potential to avert chronic diseases (Basma et al., 2011). Metabolites such as phenolic acid, alkaloid, flavonoid, capsaicinoid and carotenoid are plant’s secondary metabolites (Biswas et al., 2011). Numerous medicinal plants that hold antidiarrheal activity are accessible all over the world (Ojha and Mahara, 2022). Positive antidiarrheal properties of these plants are due to the occurrence of different plant compositions which includes flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, steroids, and tannins. Remarkably, occurrence of tannins and flavonoids in herbs may help in augmented reabsorption of colon water and electrolytes (Yacob et al., 2016, Mehesare et al., 2019). Likewise, there are various plants that cause diuretic potential (de Souza et al., 2021) and plants that showed diuretic activities were found to be rich in flavonoids, saponins and polysaccharide (Fu et al., 2014). It is known to possess plentiful biological qualities inclusive of being diaphoretic and diuretic. Metabolite outlining of aqueous concentrate of such plants was executed by liquid chromatography. This guided to the isolation of numerous bioactive plant chemicals associated with several categories of metabolites like phenolic acids, phenolic glycosides, flavonoids and anthocyanin (Sulaiman et al., 2020). Capsicum annum L. is the major part of Mediterranean Diet, which has gains its important due to the presence of high percentages of carotenoid and flavonoid content and regarded as the most powerful food that is effective against chronic diseases and ageing (Wang et al., 2014). Universally pepper is acknowledged for its elevated *Corresponding author: e-mail: nimra.mazhar@scholar.aku.edu