Abstract
Abelmoschus esculentus L. (ladies finger, okra) is a well-known tropical vegetable, widely planted from Africa to Asia and from South Europe to America. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro antioxidant capacity and in vivo protective effect of the aqueous and methanolic seed extracts of Abelmoschus esculentus against scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment using passive avoidance task and acute restraining stress-induced behavioural and biochemical changes using elevated plus maze (EPM) and forced swimming test (FST) in mice. Our results demonstrated that the pretreatment of mice with aqueous and methanolic seed extracts of Abelmoschus esculentus (200 mg/kg, p.o.) for seven days significantly (P < 0.01) attenuated scopolamine-induced cognitive impairment in the passive avoidance test. In addition, these extracts significantly reduced the blood glucose, corticosterone, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels elevated by acute restraint stress and also significantly increased the time spent in open arm in EPM and decreased the immobility time in FST. It has also been revealed that these extracts showed a significant antioxidant activity and no signs of toxicity or death up to a dose of 2000 mg/kg, p.o. These results suggest that the seed extracts of Abelmoschus esculentus L. possess antioxidant, antistress, and nootropic activities which promisingly support the medicinal values of ladies finger as a vegetable.
Highlights
Stress is “a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources that the individual is able to mobilize.” In our dayto-day life, every human faces a stressful situation which is characterized by a combination of physiologic, neuroendocrine, behavioural, and emotional responses to novel or threatening stimuli
Preliminary phytochemical studies of aqueous extract (AE) and methanolic extract (ME) revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, phenols, proteins, terpenoids, tannins, and sterols
Saponins and cardiac glycosides were found to be absent in AE and ME
Summary
Stress is “a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources that the individual is able to mobilize.” In our dayto-day life, every human faces a stressful situation which is characterized by a combination of physiologic, neuroendocrine, behavioural, and emotional responses to novel or threatening stimuli. Restraint stress or immobilization has been used extensively as a stressor for the study of stress-related biological, biochemical, and physiological responses in animals and is commonly used because it is less severe than other physical stressors, such as a foot shock, but is still capable of activating the stress response. In this type of stressor, movement is limited by placement in a Plexiglas chamber or immobilization bag. The oil of ladies finger seeds is edible and the residual meal after oil extraction is rich in protein With this background, the present investigation aims at exploring the natural antioxidant, antistress, and nootropic activities of the aqueous and methanolic seed extracts of Abelmoschus esculentus (AE, ME)
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