Phytochemical Analysis, Antioxidant, Antistress, and Nootropic Activities of Aqueous and Methanolic Seed Extracts of Ladies Finger (Abelmoschus esculentusL.) in Mice

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.

Phytochemical information and pharmacological activities of Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus): A literature‐based review

“…According to the nutritional composition and phytochemical reports A. esculentus contains a number of antioxidant vitamins (e.g., vitamins A, C, and E). Moreover, it also contains essential oil and phenoic compounds (Doreddula et al, ; Khomsug et al, ; Zhou et al, ) and antioxidant glycosides (Liao, Liu, & Yuan, ; Zeng et al, ) in its various parts.…”

“…There are reports that demonstrate that these types of compounds are strong antioxidants and can protect animal organs (Islam, Streck, et al, ). Therefore, the free radicals and ROS scavenging, and ferric reducing capacity (Ansari et al, ; Doreddula et al, ; Khomsug et al, ; Liao, Liu, & Yuan, ) along with the increase in physiological antioxidants (e.g., SOD, CAT, GPx, glutathione) (Sabitha, Ramachandran, Naveen, & Panneerselvam, ; Xia et al, ) may be due to the presence of the antioxidant vitamins and phytochonstituents.…”

“…It may be due to its capacity to alter neurological functions and immunoreactivity levels in the hippocampal subregions (Lee et al, ). In this review, A. esculentus was found to exert an antinociceptive effect (Soares et al, ) and alter the scopolamine‐induced symptoms in experimental animals (Doreddula et al, ). Furthermore, A. esculentus is also evident to exert a neuroprotective effect in Swiss mice (Tongjaroenbuangam et al, ), suggesting a potential target of neuroactive principles in this herb.…”

“…In a study, the peel and seed powder of the plant at 100 and 200 mg/kg (p.o., up to 28 days) in streptozotocin (STZ)‐induced diabetic rats increased liver, kidney and pancreas superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione levels, and decreased thiobarbituric acid substances levels (Sabitha, Ramachandran, et al, ). Aqueous and methanolic seed extracts (250–10,000 μg/ml) was also evident to show antioxidant capacity (DPPH, ferric reducing, and 𝛽‐carotene‐linoleic acid assay; Doreddula et al, ), whereas different fractions of the plant showed antioxidant ability by lowering malondialdehyde level and increasing SOD and GPx levels (Xia et al, ).…”

“…Moreover, the aqueous and methanolic seed extracts (200 mg/kg [p.o.]) attenuated scopolamine‐induced cognitive impairment and exerted an antistress, and nootropic effect in elevated plus maze and forced swimming test in mice ( n = 6) for 7 days (Doreddula et al, ).…”