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Asian Journal of Dental and Health Sciences 
Open Access to Dental and Medical Research 

Copyright  © 2023 The  Author(s): This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 
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Evaluation of In-Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Leaves of Pongamia 
pinnata 

Jyoti Bairagi *, Vivekanand Katare, Bharti Chourey, Abhilasha Delouri, Shivam Nema 

Vivekanand College of Pharmacy, Shikandrabad, Bhopal, MP, 462044, India 

Article Info: 
_______________________________________ 
Article History: 
Received 17 Dec 2022      
Reviewed  14 Jan 2023 
Accepted 26 Jan 2023 
Published 15 March 2023 

_______________________________________ 
Cite this article as:  

Bairagi J, Katare V, Chourey B, Delouri A, Nema 
S, Evaluation of In-Vitro Anti-Inflammatory 
Activity of Leaves of Pongamia pinnata, Asian 
Journal of Dental and Health Sciences. 2023; 
3(1):8-10 

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22270/ajdhs.v3i1.33    

_______________________________________
*Address for Correspondence:   

Jyoti Bairagi, Vivekanand College of Pharmacy, 

Shikandrabad, Bhopal, MP, 462044, India 

Abstract 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Inflammation is a reaction of a living vascularised tissue to an injury. Conventional or synthetic drugs 
used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases are inadequate, it sometimes have serious side effects. 
So, number of herbal medicines is recommended for the treatment of inflammation that has no side 
effects. Pongamia pinnata, Pierre (Family- Fabaceae) commonly known as karanja. The seed and seed oil 
of the plant have been reported to be effective in various inflammatory and infectious diseases such as 
leucoderma, leprosy, lumbago, muscular and articular rheumatism, cutaneous affection including herpes 
and scabies etc. in folk medicine and Ayurveda, a traditional system of healing . Anti-inflammatory 
activities of this plant for various parts have been reported in various models. This study examined the 
anti-inflammatory potential of a methanolic leaves extract of Pongamia pinnata and reference drug 
Declofenac sodium, invitro using heat-induced protein denaturation technique. The concentrations of 
the leave extract used were 50-250μg/ml. While diclofenac sodium were 50, 100, 150, 200 and 
250μg/ml. Both the Diclofenac sodium and extract showed the IC50 values 18.36 and 82.24µg/ml 
respectively. It is concluded that the methanolic leaves extract of Pongamia pinnata possess marked in 
vitro anti-inflammatory activity which is mediated possibly by flavonoids, tannins and alkaloids. This is 
a novel finding. Further the results scientifically justify the use of leaves of Pongamia pinnata in India 
traditional medicine to treat inflammation. 

Keywords: Inflammation, Pongamia pinnata, Fabaceae, heat-induced protein denaturation technique 

Mail id: bairagijyoti01@gmail.com 

INTRODUCTION 

Inflammation is considered as a primary physiologic defense 
mechanism that helps body to protect itself against infections, 
burns, toxic chemicals, allergens or other noxious stimuli. An 
uncontrolled and persistent inflammation may act as 
etiological factor for many chronic illnesses1. Non-steroidal 
anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are widely used in the 
treatment of pain and inflammation. Currently available 
NSAIDS are associated with unwanted side effects and have 
their own limitations. About 34-46% of the users of NSAIDS 
usually sustain some gastrointestinal damage due to inhibition 
of the protective cyclooxygenase enzyme in gastric mucosa2. 
Hence there is a need for anti-inflammatory drugs with fewer 
side effects. Plants have been an important source of medicine 
for 1000’s of years. Herbal medicine is still the mainstay of 
therapy for about 75-80% of the whole population in 
developing countries for primary health care3. This is because 
of better cultural acceptability, affordability, better 
compatibility with the human body and fewer or no side 
effects, in addition, the last few years have seen a major 
increase in the use of herbal remedies in developed countries4. 
The long historical use of medicinal plants in many traditional 
medical practices, including experience passed from 
generation to generation, has demonstrated the safety and 
efficient value of traditional medicine5. World Health 
Organization encourages the inclusion of herbal medicines of 
proven safety and efficacy in the healthcare programs of 
developing countries because of the great potential they hold 
in combating various diseases6. Many Indian ethno botanic 

traditions propose a rich repertory of medicinal plants used by 
the population for the treatment, management and/or control 
of different types of pain7. However, there were not enough 
scientific investigations on the anti-inflammatory and 
analgesic activities conferred to these plants. One such plant 
from Indian flora Pongamia  pinnata  (Fabaceae),  a  medium-
sized  glabrous  tree,  found  throughout  India  and  further 
distributed  eastwards,  mainly  in  the  littoral  regions  of 
south  eastern  Asia  and  Australia . In the literature of India, 
different parts of this plant have been recommended as a 
remedy for various ailments. The seed and seed oil of this 
plant have been used for treating various inflammatory and 
infectious diseases such as leucoderma, leprosy, lumbago, 
muscular and articular rheumatism. The leaves are spicy, 
digestive, laxative, anthelmintic and cure piles, wounds and 
other inflammations.  A  liquid  solution  of  the  leaves  is  used  
as  a  medicated bath for relieving rheumatic pains and for 
cleaning ulcers in gonorrhea and scrofulous enlargement. Root 
and seed extracts of Pongamia pinnata have been reported to 
have anti-inflammatory activity8. Hence, in the present study, 
anti-inflammatory activities of methanolic extracts of 
Pongamia pinnata were evaluated using heat-induced protein 
denaturation technique. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS 

Plant material 

The leaves of plant Pongamia pinnata were collected from 
local area of Bhopal (M.P), India.  

 

                       Open Access                                                                                                                                                                                                         Research Article                                                                           

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http://dx.doi.org/10.22270/ajdhs.v3i1.33


Bairagi et al                                                                                                                                    Asian Journal of Dental and Health Sciences. 2023; 3(1):8-10 

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Chemical reagents 

All the chemicals used in this study were obtained from Hi 
Media Laboratories Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai, India), Sigma Aldrich 
Chemical Co. (Milwaukee, WI, USA), SD Fine-Chem. Ltd. 
(Mumbai, India) and SRL Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai, India).All the 
chemicals used in this study were of analytical grade. 

Extraction of plant material 

Cold maceration method 

Leaves of Pongamia pinnata were collected, washed and 
rinsed properly. They were dried in shade and powdered 
mechanically. About 250gm of the leaves powder was 
macerated with petroleum ether and methanol and stored for 
72 hours in ice cold condition for the extraction of 
phytochemicals. At the end of the third day extract was filtered 
using whatman No. 1 filter paper to remove all un-extractable 
matter, including cellular materials and other constitutions 
that are insoluble in the extraction solvent. The entire extract 
was concentrated to dryness using rotary flash evaporator 
under reduced pressure and stored in an air tight container 
free from any contamination until it was used. Finally the 
percentage yields were calculated of the dried extracts9.  

Assessment of in vitro anti-inflammatory activity by 
protein denaturation technique 

The reaction mixture (5ml) consisted of 0.2ml of egg albumin 
(from fresh hen’s egg ), 2.8ml of phosphate buffer saline 
(PBS,pH 6.4) and 2ml of varying concentrations of plant extract 

so that final concentrations become 50, 100, 150, 
200,250µg/ml. Similar volume of double distilled water served 
as control. Then the mixture were incubated at (37±2)°C in 
incubator (Universal) for 15 min and then heated at 70°C for 5 
min. After cooling, their absorbance was measured at 660nm 
(Systronic 2202) by using vehicle as blank. Diclofenac -sodium 
at the final concentration of 50, 100, 150, 200, 250µ/ml was 
used as reference drug and treated similarly for determination 
of absorbance and viscosity10. The percentage inhibition of 
protein denaturation was calculated by using the following 
formula: 

% inhibition = 100 × (Vt / Vc -1) 

Where, Vt = absorbance of test sample, Vc = absorbance of 
control. 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 

The crude extracts so obtained after cold maceration 
extraction process were concentrated on water bath by 
evaporation the solvents completely to obtain the actual yield 
of extraction. The percentage yield of extraction is very 
important in phytochemical extraction in order to evaluate the 
standard extraction efficiency for a particular plant, different 
parts of same plant or different solvents used. The yield of 
extracts obtained from the leaves of the plants using 
petroleum ether and methanol as solvents are depicted in the 
Table 1. Results of In vitro Anti- inflammatory activity of 
diclofenac sodium standard and methanolic extract was given 
in Table 2 using protein denaturation methods.  

 

Table 1: Results of percentage yield of leaves extracts  

S. No. Solvent Color of extract Weight of plant material (gm) Weight of extract  (gm) % yield 

1. Petroleum ether Dark Green 180 4.32 2.4 

2. Methanol Brown 160.71 10.68 1.29 

 

Table 2: Effect of Diclofenac sodium and Pongamia pinnata methanolic extract on Protein Denaturation 

S. No. Concentration 

(µg/ml) 

% Inhibition 

Diclofenac sodium Methanolic extract 

1 50 50.33738192 42.37516869 

2 100 59.51417004 54.38596491 

3 150 71.25506073 64.1025641 

4 200 78.54251012 72.73954116 

5 250 87.44939271 80.02699055 

IC 50 18.36 82.24 

 

CONCLUSION 

In conclusion, this study shows, for the first time, in vitro anti-
inflammatory activity of methanolic  leave extract of Indian, 
Pongamia pinnata and scientifically justify its use in India 
traditional medicine to treat inflammatory conditions. Its anti-
inflammatory action is mediated by the synergistic action of 
flavonoids, tannins and purine and pseudo-alkaloids. 
Furthermore. Some studies have shown that the heat-induced 
protein denaturation test also indicated anti-rheumatoid 
arthritis activity in which case the results also suggest that 
Pongamia pinnata may be useful to treat rheumatoid arthritis 
as well. 

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Bairagi et al                                                                                                                                    Asian Journal of Dental and Health Sciences. 2023; 3(1):8-10 

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https://doi.org/10.3923/ijp.2011.419.439
https://doi.org/10.22270/jddt.v11i4.4890
https://doi.org/10.3109/13880200903019218

