Pharmacological activities of Iceberg lettuce

J Pharm Pharmacogn Res 7(5): 343-355, 2019.

Original Article | Artículo Original

Antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of in vitro and field-grown Iceberg lettuce extracts

[Actividades antioxidante, antiinflamatoria y analgésica de extractos de lechuga Iceberg cultivada in vitro y en el campo]

Iqra Younus¹, Hammad Ismail², Chahat Batool Rizvi¹, Erum Dilshad³, Kiran Saba¹, Bushra Mirza¹, Mohammad Tahir Waheed^1*

Abstract

Context: Iceberg lettuce is a nutrient rich edible crop containing vitamin B6, thiamin and folate. The increasing demand of natural products is moving the focus towards in vitro plant sources as factories for producing important secondary metabolites.

Aims: To evaluate the activities of in vitro propagated callus culture and field-grown of Iceberg lettuce, which can act as an alternate source of bioactive secondary metabolites.

Methods: The extracts were made with methanol, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and water for field-grown as well as in vitro cultured Iceberg lettuce plants and evaluated for their medicinal potential both in vitro and in vivo in rats.

Results: Total flavonoid and phenolic contents of plant extracts showed strong positive correlation with their antioxidant activities. The highest contents of flavonoids and phenolics were present in the methanolic extract of field-grown leaves. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of examined samples in rats were observed as field-grown leaves extracts > callus extracts > regenerated shoots extracts. However, all of these activities in the extracts of callus culture were comparable to that of field-grown plant extracts.

Conclusions: This study showed that field-grown plants are comparably rich source of secondary metabolites, which showed multiple pharmacological activities in a significant way.

Keywords: analgesic; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; callus; Iceberg lettuce; Lactuca sativa.

Resumen

Contexto: La lechuga iceberg es un cultivo comestible rico en nutrientes que contiene vitamina B6, tiamina y ácido fólico. La creciente demanda de productos naturales está moviendo el foco hacia fuentes de plantas in vitro como fábricas para producir importantes metabolitos secundarios.

Objetivos: Evaluar las actividades del cultivo de callos propagados in vitro y en el campo de la lechuga iceberg, que pueden actuar como una fuente alternativa de metabolitos secundarios bioactivos.

Métodos: Los extractos se hicieron con metanol, n-hexano, acetato de etilo y agua para plantas de lechuga Iceberg cultivadas in vitro y en el campo y se evaluaron para determinar su potencial medicinal tanto in vitro como in vivo en ratas.

Resultados: El contenido total de flavonoides y fenoles de los extractos de plantas mostró una fuerte correlación positiva con sus actividades antioxidantes. Los contenidos más altos de flavonoides y fenoles se encontraron en el extracto metanólico de hojas cultivadas en el campo. Las actividades antioxidantes, analgésicas y antiinflamatorias de las muestras examinadas en ratas se observaron como extractos de hojas cultivadas en el campo > extractos de callos > extractos de brotes regenerados. Sin embargo, todas estas actividades en los extractos de cultivos de callos fueron comparables a las de los extractos de plantas cultivadas en el campo.

Conclusiones: Este estudio demostró que las plantas cultivadas en el campo son una fuente comparable de metabolitos secundarios que muestra múltiples actividades de manera significativa.

Palabras Clave: analgésico; antiinflamatorio; antioxidante; callo; lechuga iceberg; Lactuca sativa.

Citation Format: Younus I, Ismail H, Rizvi CB, Dilshad E, Saba K, Mirza B, Waheed MT (2019) Antioxidant, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of in vitro and field-grown Iceberg lettuce extracts. J Pharm Pharmacogn Res 7(5): 343–355.

© 2019 Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacognosy Research (JPPRes)