Abstract
BackgroundThe Jatropha curcas plant or locally known as “Pokok Jarak” has been widely used in traditional medical applications. This plant is used to treat various conditions such as arthritis, gout, jaundice, wound and inflammation. However, the nature of compounds involved has not been well documented. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of different parts of J. curcas plant and to identify the active compounds involved.MethodsIn this study, methanol (80%) extraction of four different parts (leaves, fruits, stem and root) of J. curcas plant was carried out. Phenolic content of each part was determined by using Folin-Ciocalteau reagent. Gallic acid was used as the phenol standard. Each plant part was screened for anti-inflammatory activity using cultured macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. The active plant part was then partitioned with hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water. Each partition was again screened for anti-inflammatory activity. The active partition was then fractionated using an open column chromatography system. Single spots isolated from column chromatography were assayed for anti-inflammatory and cytotoxicity activities. Spots that showed activity were subjected to gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis for identification of active metabolites.ResultsThe hexane partition from root extract showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity. However, it also showed high cytotoxicity towards RAW 264.7 cells at 1 mg/mL. Fractionation process using column chromatography showed five spots. Two spots labeled as H-4 and H-5 possessed anti-inflammatory activity, without cytotoxicity activity. Analysis of both spots by GC-MS showed the presence of hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, octadecanoic acid methyl ester and octadecanoic acid.ConclusionThis finding suggests that hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, octadecanoic acid methyl ester and octadecanoic acid could be responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity of the J. curcas root extract.
Highlights
The Jatropha curcas plant or locally known as “Pokok Jarak” has been widely used in traditional medical applications
A study conducted in Brazil found that the tribes using J. curcas roots as traditional medicine were advised to take extra precaution due to the toxicity of the plant [2]. These results indicated that the J. curcas root contains compounds with anti-inflammatory as well as cytotoxic activities
Among the plant parts of J. curcas, leaves showed the highest amount of phenolics expressed in milligram of gallic acid equivalent, followed by root, fruits and stem
Summary
The Jatropha curcas plant or locally known as “Pokok Jarak” has been widely used in traditional medical applications. This plant is used to treat various conditions such as arthritis, gout, jaundice, wound and inflammation. The nature of compounds involved has not been well documented. This study was conducted to investigate the anti-inflammatory activity of different parts of J. curcas plant and to identify the active compounds involved. Similar cases were reported in India in 2003 [4]. Several cases involving death were reported in ruminant associated with Jatropha consumption during the dry season [6]
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