Beneficial effects of <i style="">Lagenaria siceraria</i> (Mol.) Standley fruit epicarp in animal models

Abstract

<smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"><smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"> <i style="">Lagenaria siceraria</i> (Mol.) Standley fruit (bottle gourd), a commonly used vegetable in India is described as cardiotonic and as a general tonic in Ayurveda. Keeping in view the presence of free radical scavenging activity in <i style="">L. siceraria</i> and involvement of free radicals in the development of various disorders, present studies were designed to evaluate the ethanolic extract of <i style="">L. siceraria</i> fruit against the disorders where free radicals play a major role in pathogenesis. The extract was found effective as hepatoprotective, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, immunomodulatory, antihyperlipidemic and cardiotonic agent. The results showed that the radical scavenging capacity of <i style="">L. siceraria</i> fruit may be responsible for various biological activities studied. </smarttagtype></smarttagtype>