Abstract
Objective: Plumeria alba (Apocynaceae), commonly known as “Frangipani” is an important medicinal plant, widely distributed throughout Southern India. In the traditional medicinal system, different parts of this plant have been mentioned to be useful in a wide variety of diseases. In this study, analgesic activity of aqueous and alcoholic extract of flowers of P. alba Linn was evaluated by hot-plate and acetic acid-induced writhing methods to substantiate and expand its clinical applications.
 Methods: The flowers of P. alba were collected from the local area in and around Coimbatore (India). The flowers were dried, powdered, and were extracted using soxhlet apparatus for 12 h using water and 95% of ethanol as a solvent. The test extracts were administered orally at a dose of 100 & 200 mg/kg while diclofenac sodium (10 mg/kg) served as standard.
 Results: The ethanolic flower extract of 200 mg/kg had significant analgesic activity in acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing response (***p<0.001) when compared to control and standard drug diclofenac. It also exhibited significant analgesic activity (***p<0.001) by increasing the pain reaction time of the rats in comparison to control and standard in hot plate method.
 Conclusion: The results suggest that ethanolic flower extracts of P. alba possess potent analgesic properties, which support its use in traditional medicine and suggesting that the plant should be further investigated for its pharmacological active natural products.
Highlights
Pain is an unpleasant sensation and emotional experience associated with real or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage
With the easy availability of analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, we are facing a new era of people presenting with symptoms of analgesic abuse [1,2]
The medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine for hundreds of years with a reputation as efficacious remedies there may not sufficient scientific data to substantiate their efficacy
Summary
Pain is an unpleasant sensation and emotional experience associated with real or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. With the development of more and more synthetic drugs that have their unique adverse effects, it is high time that attention should be turned to the possible remedies that may be found among indigenous herbal plants. This has accelerated the global effort to harvest those medicinal plants that have substantial beneficial effects with the least adverse effects to remove pain stimulus. The medicinal plants have been used in traditional medicine for hundreds of years with a reputation as efficacious remedies there may not sufficient scientific data to substantiate their efficacy Large numbers of these plants are important in the modern pharmaceutical industry. The therapeutic use of plants continued with the progress of civilization and the development of human knowledge
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