An Overview of Cassia fistula: Chemistry and Pharmacological Profile

Shashikant R Pattan, Nachiket S Dighe*, Sunil A Nirmal, Prerana A Chavan, Sanjay B Bhawar, Nilesh Jadhao and Santosh B Dighe

Pravara Rural College of Pharmacy, Loni, M.S., India.

ABSTRACT

Cassia fistula Linn (Leguminosae) is a shrub, extensively used in traditional medicine in tropical and warm subtropical countries. C. Fistula commonly found in waste grounds and secondary forest. The chemical constituents reported from this plant belong to different classes such as glycosides, flavonoides, steroids, mucilage and sugars. C. Fistula has number of medicinal uses, many of which have been verified by scientific methods. This review article summarizes the chemistry and pharmacological profile of C. Fistula.

KEYWORDS: Cassia fistula, Phytochemistry, Pharmacological activities.

INTRODUCTION

Cassia fistula Linn (Leguminosae)¹ is a foetid annual shrub. This is very common weed throught India, Ceylon and tropics generally. It is commonly known as bahava (Marathi), suvarnaka (Sanskrit), Purging fistula (English). The leaves are deciduous or semi-evergreen, 15-60 cm long, pinnate with 3-8 pairs of leaflets, each leaflet 7-21 cm long and 4-9 cm broad. The flowers are produced in pendulous racemes 20-40 cm long, each flower 4-7 cm diameter with five yellow petals of equal size and shape.² Seed contains glycerides with linoleic, oleic, stearic and palmitic acid and trace amounts of caprylic and myristic acid, cephalin, lecithin phospholipidsand carbohydrates. Bark contains lupeol, B setosterol and hexacosenol. Bark contains lupeol, B setosterol and hexacosenol. Decoctions of parts of Cassia fistula are uses as an analgesic, antifungal, laxative, purgative, antioxidant, hepatoprotective property, and wound healing property.³

CHEMISTRY:

Various chemical constituents isolated from different parts of plant C. fistula have been given in table-I and structures of some constituents are given in figure-I

PHARMCOLOGICAL ACTIVITY

Antitumor activity:

The methanol extract (ME) of Cassia fistula seed on the growth of EAC (Ehrlich ascites carcinoma) and on the life span of tumor bearing mice were studied. ME treatment showed an increase of life span, and a decrease in the tumor volume and viable tumor cell count in the EAC tumor hosts. Cytological studies have revealed a reduction in the mitotic activity, and the appearance of membrane blebbing and intracytoplasmic vacuoles in the treated tumor cells. Improvement in the hematological parameters following ME treatment, like hemoglobin content, red blood cell count and bone marrow cell count of the tumor bearing mice have also been observed. The results of the present study suggest that ME of C. fistula seed has an antitumor activity.⁹

Table 1: Phytoconstituents of C. fistula ^4-8

Sr. no.	Plant Part	Chemical constituents isolated
1	Seed	Glycerides with linoleic, oleic, stearic and palmitic acid and trace amounts of caprylic and myristic acid, cephaeline(IV), lecithin phospholipids& carbohydrates
2	Bark	Lupeol(VI), B sitosterol(VII), &hexacosenol(V).
3	Fruit	Substantial amounts of K, Ca, Fe and Mn.
4.	In vivo & in vitro extracts of Cassia fistula	Rich in polyphenolics and secondary metabolites Anthraquinones(II), flavonoides, & flavan 3-ol (III)derivative, Sennoside A(I), Sennoside Band many others.

Antibacterial and Antifungal activity:

The hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and water extracts from the flower of Cassia fistula (an ethnomedicinal plant) were tested against bacteria and fungi. All the extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against Gram-positive organisms with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) between 0.078 and 2.5 mg/ml. Among the Gram-negative bacteria, only Pseudomonas aeruginosa was susceptible to the extracts. Ethyl acetate crude extract was fractionated using chromatographic techniques. A crystal was isolated, which was confirmed as 4-hydroxy benzoic acid hydrate using X-ray crystallography. It exhibited antifungal activity against Trichophyton mentagrophytes (MIC 0.5 mg/ml) and Epidermophyton floccosum (MIC 0.5 mg/ml)¹⁰.

Antioxidant activity:

The present study deals with in-vitro antioxidant activity of ethanolic extract of the leaves and methanolic extracts of the bark, pulp and flowers of Cassia fistula by using DPPH (1,1-Dipheny-2-picryl-hydrazyl) . The antioxidant activity was found to correlate with the total polyphenolic content of the extracts and was in the descending order of bark, leaves, flowers then pulp ^11. The antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract of Cassia fistula flowers (ACF) was later investigated in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. For rats that were treated with ACF, there was a significant reduction in peroxidation products (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, conjugated dienes and hydroperoxides) and a prominent increase in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione ^12. The aqueous and methanolic extracts of Cassia fistula bark were also investigated for their antioxidant activity. Both extracts exhibited antioxidant activity in DPPH (1,1-Dipheny-2-picryl-hydrazyl), nitric oxide and hydroxyl radical-induced in vitro assay methods. The extracts also showed a dose-dependent protective effect against lipid peroxidation and free radical generation in liver and kidney homogenates ¹³

Anti-inflammatory activity:

The anti-inflammatory activity of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of Cassia fistula bark was assayed in Wistar albino rats. Both the extracts exhibited significant anti-inflammatory effects in carrageenan-induced oedema and cotton pellet induced granuloma ^14.

Wound healing property:

The hydrocarbon ointment containing 10% w/w of Cassia fistula leaf extract was topically applied onto infected albino rat wounds. This showed improved healing through wound closure and tissue regeneration^15.

Antitussive Activity:

The methanol extract of Cassia fistula was investigated for its effect on a cough model induced by sulphur dioxide gas in mice. It exhibited significant antitussive activity when compared with control in a dose dependent manner. The antitussive activity of the extract was comparable to that of codeine phosphate, a prototypes antitussive agent. The C. fistula extract (400, 600 mg/kg, p.o.) showed maximum inhibition of cough by 44.44% and 51.85% with respect to control group.¹⁶

Hepatoprotective Activity:

In the present study Cassia fistula (Caesalpinaceae) bark was extracted with water. The extracts were vacuum dried to yield AQET (Aqueous Extract). The extracts were evaluated for hepatoprotective activity against CCl4 (Carbon tetrachloride) induced liver damage at 250 mg/kg and 500-mg/kg-dose level. The biochemical parameters observed in serum were total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) levels and total protein¹⁷. Aspartate transaminase (AST), Alanine Transaminase (ALT) and total protein levels in liver were also evaluated. Histopathological study on the liver tissue was also performed. The extracts exhibited dose dependant reduction in total bilirubin, ALP, SGOT, SGPT, AST, ALT and increase in total protein (serum and liver) levels. The extract treated group’s shows mild hepatatocytic damage compared to the CCl4 treated group. Cassia fistula attenuates the hepatotoxic effect of CCl4. ^18-21

CONCLUSION:

Cassia fistula is traditionally very important herb having many important pharmacological activities like analgesic, antifungal, hepatoprotective, wound healing, antitumor and antioxidant property. Many important phytoconstituents responsible for the activity were isolated. This proves therapeutic importance of the plant. Such type of systematic information about the plant is useful for the researchers.

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