Chromatographic Fingerprinting, Antioxidant, and Anti-inflammatory Potential of Dioscorea villosa (Wild Yam) Leaves

Abstract

Context: Free radicals have been implicated in a wide range diversity of diseases and ailments, and therefore, the compounds having the ability to scavenge these free radicals are under extensive investigation, of which Dioscorea species have been actively involved. Objective: The current study assessed the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential of standardized leaf extracts of Dioscorea villosa. Material and Methods: Anti-inflammatory activity was carried out using carrageenan-induced paw edema assay, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Chromatographic fingerprinting of the crude methanolic extract was carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) whereby diosgenin was used as a standard marker compound. Results: Among all the crude successive extracts, methanolic extract showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in comparison with the standard whereby the extract showed maximum inhibition of paw edema after 3 h of carrageenan injection. The aqueous extract showed noticeable antioxidant activity with the half maximal inhibitory concentration of 21.36 μg/ml. Discussion: The preliminary phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavonoids and tannins that may be responsible for the observed effect. In addition, the presence of steroids marks toward the observed anti-inflammatory activity. In addition, the extract showed noticeable levels of diosgenin, which were marked and quantified using HPLC. Conclusion: The results strongly support the ethnobotanical use of the plant.