Role of dried fruits of Carissa carandas as anti-inflammatory agents and the analysis of phytochemical constituents by GC-MS.

Inflammation plays an important role in various diseases with high prevalence within populations such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcer, atherosclerosis, and asthma. Many drugs are available in the market for inflammatory diseases. They exhibit several unwanted side effects to humans. Therefore, alternative treatments with safer compounds are needed. Carissa carandas plant is used in traditional medicinal system for its various diseases curing property. In the present study, we examined the anti-inflammatory effects of dried fruit methanol extract on carrageenan-induced hind paw edema in rats. C. carandas was defatted with petroleum ether, followed by methanol extraction. The methanol extracts of the dried fruits of Carissa carandas were given orally to the experimental rats caused significant activity (P ≤ 0.05) when compared with the control group. The maximum inhibition of paw edema was found to be in Group V, that is, 76.12% with inhibition of paw volume in a dose-dependent manner. The anti-inflammatory activity of the methanol extract of the dried fruits shows that the presence of potential constituents present in this extract may provide assistance in the drug discovery process. The phytochemical compounds of the extract were screened by GC-MS analysis and it was found that 11 compounds are present in methanol extract of dried fruits of Carissa carandas.