PHARMACOGNOSTICAL, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND ANTICANCER STUDIES OF DENDROPHTHOE FALCATA (L.F.) ETTINGSH. (LORANTHACEAE) GROWING ON THE HOST PLANT AZADIRACHTA INDICA (MELIACEAE)

Objective: The present study is designed to study the pharmacognostical, preliminary phytochemical and anti cancer studies of Dendrophthoe falcata (L.f) Ettingsh (Loranthaceae) on the host plant Azadirachta indica(Meliaceae) . Materials and methods: Pharmacognostical studies involve the anatomical sections and powder analysis of leaf, physicochemical studies such as extractive values, ash values and fluorescent analysis were performed. For methanolic extract preliminary phytochemical studies revealed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, proteins, gums, mucilages, tannins and saponins. These findings will be useful towards establishing standards on identification, purity, quality and classification of the plant, which is gaining relevance in the plant drug research. Methanolic extract of the leaf prepared by soxhlet method of extraction was subjected to in vitro and in vivo (Ehrlich ascitic carcinoma cells) anti cancer activities. Results: The methanolic extract of Dendrophthoe falcata was evaluated and compared against standard drug 5-flourouracil. 100mg/kg of methanolic extract (MEDF) shows significant anticancer activity which was in correlation with the presence of phenolic and flavonoid constituents of the extract. Conclusion: It was concluded that the anti cancer activity due to the presence of alkaloids, phenolics and flavonoids which are rich in D.falcata which grows on host plant Azadirachta indica, it may be because of the host plant which is rich in flavonoids and