ANTIMUTAGENIC ACTIVITY OF WATER FRACTION AND ITS SEPARATING FRACTION FROM THE PUSPA PLANT (SCHIMA WALLICHII KORTH) BY THE MICRONUCLEUS METHOD

Abstract

Objective: An investigation on mutagenic activity of two fraction separated from the water fractions of Schima wallichi Korth has been carried out on Swiss Webster male mice using the micronucleus method. Methods: The simplicia of puspa leaves was extracted by maceration method with methanol solvent for 2 days. The crude extract obtained was fractionated based on the principle of polarity, using n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water solvents. Each fraction was administered orally at the same doses of 350 and 700 mg/ kg of body weight. Results: Antimutagenic activity was slowly decreasing frequency of micronucleus in every 1000 erythrocytes of bone marrow preparation for each test animal. The result of the investigation indicated that the two fractions, at a dose of 700 mg/kg of body weight decreased the frequency of micronucleus significantly as compared with the control group, with the inhibitory of 34.25 % and 44.29 % respectively potency. Phytochemical screening of the fractions indicated that the first fraction contained two main compounds, quinone and polyphenol, and the second one contained saponin in addition to quinone and polyphenol. Conclusion: The antimutagenic activity of the puspa (Schima wallichii Korth) plant from the water fraction and its separation showed significant results. The biggest percentage of inhibition of mutation is indicated by fraction 3 which is 44.29 %. There is an alleged correlation between the presence of saponin compounds in fraction 3 with the ability to inhibit the occurrence of mutations.