Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res., 22(2), Sep – Oct 2013; nᵒ 34, 191-195 ISSN 0976 – 044X International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Review and Research Available online at www.globalresearchonline.net 191 Nizam Baloch, Sajid Nabi, Yasser.M .S.A.Al-Kahraman* Institute of Biochemistry, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan. * Corresponding author’s E-mail: pharmacist_yasser@yahoo.com Accepted on: 28-07-2013; Finalized on: 30-09-2013. ABSTRACT The aim of the present investigation deals with biological evaluation of Perotis hordeiformisleaves. For these purpose different biological assays of crude methanolic extract (CME) and its fractions that are chloroform fraction, n-hexane fraction, acetone fraction and aqueous fraction were carried out. The results of CME showed maximum Antileishmanial activity with IC 50 29.67 µg/ml, moreover CME also showed significant Cytotoxic activity with ED 50 value 2.38 µg/ml. Antioxidant analysis of CME determined the maximum antioxidant activity with IC 50 value 31.90 µg/ml. Furthermore, the phytochemical analysis of CME and its fractions showed the presence of Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Phenols, Saponins and Diterpenes. The extract and fractions were also appreciating for further biological investigations in future. Keywords: Antileishmanial, Antioxidant, Brine shrimp Cytotoxicity, Perotis hordeiformis, Phytochemical analysis. INTRODUCTION umans have used plants as therapeutic agents from pre-historic times. 1 Since then, out of estimated 250,000 flowering plant species in the world 2 , 15% have been evaluated phytochemically and only 6% have been screened for biological activity. 3 While a relatively small portion of all plants have been used for medicinal purposes, their importance should not be undermined as almost 65% of the world’s population has incorporated them into their primary modality of health care. 4 Moreover, the use of medicinal plants has brought a number of clear-cut benefits including (i) isolation of compounds that nowadays are used as drugs (e.g., digoxin, morphine, taxol); (ii) synthesis of new compounds possessing higher activity and/or lower toxicity than the parent compounds found in medicinal plants (e.g., metformin, verapamil, and amiodarone which are based, respectively, on galegine, podophyllotoxin, and khellin); (iii) application of the agents from plants as tools for pharmacological research (e.g., mescaline, yohimbine); and, finally, (iv) using the whole plant or its parts as an approved herbal remedy (e.g., echinacea, garlic, ginkgo biloba, St. John’s wort, and many others). 5 The important point is that ethno-medical information could facilitate the discovery of new drugs by providing a preliminary list of most promising candidate plants for further investigation. Besides shortening the pipeline to drug discovery, using the plants as a starting point has another advantage of potentially reducing the toxic side effects, since active compounds from the plants used by humans are likely to be safer than those with no history of human use. 6 Perotis hordeiformis belongs to family Poaceae is an Annual or short-lived perennial. Mainly found in sandy places, along seashores. Guangdong, Hebei, Jiangsu, Yunnan [India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand]. This species is very close to Perotis indica and is sometimes included within it. No single character by itself is reliable for separating the two, but the combination of characters given in the key will usually suffice. Hence, in continuation of our previous work 7-14 , the present study is carried out to study the in vitro Antileishmanial, Cytotoxic, Antioxidant and their phytochemical analysis of Perotis hordeiformis leaves. M ATERIALS AND M ETHODS Plant material The leaves of Perotis hordeiformis was collected from Soorab, Balochistan province, Pakistan. The plant was identified by taxonomist Prof. Dr. Mudassir.Asrar.Zaidi, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan. Extraction and fractionation Fresh leaves were washed, sliced and dried under shade for 30 days. The leaves extract was prepared in analytical grade methanol (2 kg in 6L) for 72hours. Then the methanol was removed and residue was immersed in methanol for further seven days. Thereafter, the methanol was decanted and filtered with Whatman filter paper. The filtrate was subsequently concentrated under reduced pressure at 45°C in rotatory evaporator (Stuart RE 300) and dried to constant weight (300 g) in vacuum oven (LINN high therm) at 45°C. This was crude methanolic leaves extract. (CME) The CME was than further fractionalized, where 200g of CME was suspended in 300 ml of distilled water. This aqueous suspension was further subjected to solvent-solvent extraction for four fractions, namely, n-hexane fraction (NHF), chloroform fraction (CHF), acetone fraction (ACE), and aqueous fraction (AQF). In vitro Antileishmanial, Cytotoxic, Antioxidant activities and Their Phytochemical Analysis on M ethanolic Extract and it is Fractions of Perotis hordeiformis leaves H Research Article