PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF ECLIPTA ALBA (LINN.) HASSAK LEAVES FOR ANTIEPILEPTIC ACTIVITY Research Article

Eclipta alba (Linn.) Hassak., is a herb commonly found throughout India. This plant is known to have various pharmacological activities and is traditionally used in treatment of epilepsy but it lacks adequate scientific proof of this activity and constituents responsible for it. The present paper describes the phytochemical and pharmacological investigations of E.alba leaves for antiepileptic activity. Different methods of extraction showed that Soxhlet method gave the best yield of 14.88 % with fresh dried leaves. The HPTLC method showed presence of Wedelolactone, Luteolin and βamyrin. The residual solvent analysis method showed that the extract is free of residual methanol and hence safe for further pharmacological evaluation on experimental animals. The extract showed significant decrease in locomotor activity at the dose of 50mg/kg and dose dependent protection from seizures in MES model. The study confirmed that E.alba has good antiepileptic potential possibly due to presence of constituents like Wedelolactone, Luteolin and β-amyrin.