Seed oil is used in the manufacture of soaps and lubrication substances. (simal present report⁹ Resin used as antidysentric.¹⁰ stem bark used as tonic in boils and acne/pimples¹¹ .seeds are applied on the skin in small pox and chicken pox ¹². Leaves are used in rheumatism laxative, haematinic¹³

Description:

Bark of Semal looks pale ashy to silver grey, 1.8 -2.5 cm thick, smooth up to middle age. Semal tree has the compound leaves which is palmate in appearance. It is digitate, large, spreading, glabrous which has common petiole, and the size of leaf is 15-30 cm long. Five leaflets are common in one leaf but sometimes up to the seven leaflets could be found. The size of leaflets varies from 10 to 20 cm. The leaflets are lanceolate, acuminate, more or less coriaceous and entirely glabrous.

The bright red flowers, which appear in January to March, are large. It presents a strikingly remarkable sight in winter and spring when the usually bare branches are covered with large, fleshy, red flowers .Because of its beautiful and attractive flowers, people like to plant it as the ornamental plant in the botanical garden, garden or as the avenue species. Flowers are numerous, large, 10-12.5 cm across. It has the thick, fleshy and cup shaped Sepals. It bears generally 5 petals in one flower which are 7.5-15 cm long oblong, recurved above, and fleshy, of bright crimson (rarely yellow or orange) colour. The pods are about 10-18 cm in length, oblong-oval in shape, locucidally 5 valved; valves woody, downy outside, lined with silky hairs^.14

Photochemistry:

Phytochemical investigation has revealed the presence of naphthoquinones, polysaccharides, anthocyanins, shamimin, lupeol and mangiferin in this plant^{15 16} Flowers have been shown to contain the β-D-glucoside of β-sitosterol, free β-sitosterol, hentriacontane, hentriacontanol, traces of an essential oil, kaempferol, and quercetin¹⁷

The stem bark contains lupeol and b-sitostrol^18. The root bark has 3 naphthalene derivatives related to gossypol (toxic principle of cotton seed) and called as 'semigossypol'¹⁹On hydrolysis gum yield L-arabinose, D-galactose, D-galacturonic acid and rhamnose²⁰

Recently some new sesquiterpenoids named as bombamalones A-D, bombamalside, laciniline, bombaxquinone have also been isolated from the roots²¹ (taken from anti oxidant) Mangiferin, 2-b -D-glucopyranosyl-1,3,6,7-tetrahydroxy-9H-xanthen-9-one, obtained directly from methanolic extracts of Bombax ceiba leaves in substancial amount²². Seeds contained n-hexacosanol, palmitic acid, octadecyl palmitate, gallic acid, tannic acid, ethyl gallate, α-,β-and γ-tocopherols²³

Structure of Quercitin

Structure of Lupeol

Structure of Mangiferin

Biological activity:

Hypotensive activity:-

Methanolic extracts of different parts of plant, including flowers, pulp, stem and stem bark have also been studied for their effect on mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) of rats. Lupeol and fraction BCBMM (filtrate from methanolic extract of defatted stem bark of bombax ceiba) have emerged as potent hypotensive constituents of Bombax ceiba stem bark while new dimeric glycoside shamimicin was found devoid of any activity at the dose of 15 mg/kg. Intravenous administration of 15 mg/kg of BCBMM caused 65% fall in blood pressure of rats for 4min. While oral administration of 200 mg/kg/d for five days showed significant hypotension of 13.18%. Low percentage of hypotension (though significant) at higher dose of 200 mg/kg/d through oral route as compared to intravenous administration indicates that active ingredient of BCBMM has low absorbance in blood either due to its very hydrophilic nature or biotransformation. Chemical and pharmacological evaluation of BCBMM (which is under progress) may lead to active constituents which might be able to show significant bioavailability. Toxicology of BCBMM determined 1000 mg/kg/d as lethal dose (LD100) killing all mice by affecting their vital organs including heart, kidneys and liver. Dose at 100 mg/kg/d is also not safe in mice as it caused expiry of three animals. It is interesting to note that 200 mg/kg/d of BCBMM did not show any mortality in rats, although sample size was quite small (only three). Hence it may be assumed that low doses of BCBMM (smaller than100 mg/kg) can be useful in reducing blood pressure safely²⁴

Hepatoprotective:

Hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of flowers of Bombax ceiba L. (MEBC) was investigated against hepatotoxicity produced by administering a combination of two anti-tubercular drugs Isoniazid and Rifampicin for 10 and 21 days by intraperitoneal route in rats. MEBC were administered at three graded dose i.e.150, 300 and 450 mg/kg i.p. 45 min prior to anti-tubercular challenge for 10 and 21 days. MEBC was evident in the all doses as there was a significant decrease in AST, ALT, ALP, and Total Bilirubin levels, but increased the level of total protein in comparison to control. MEBC significantly decreased the level of TBARS and elevated the level of GSH at all doses as compared to control. Histology of the liver section of the animals treated with MEBC improved the hepatotoxicity caused by antitubercular drugs. The results obtained from the analysis of biochemical parameters and histopathological studies, enabled to conclude that the MEBC were not able to revert completely the hepatic injury induced by INH + RIF, but it could limit the effect of INH + RIF to the extent of necrosis²⁵

Antidiabetic:-

This present work focuses on the antidiabetic activity of a hydro-methanolic (2:3) extract of the sepals of Salmalia malabarica on the blood glucose, the carbohydrade metabolic enzyme, oxidative stress, glycated haemoglobin and transaminase activity in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Administration of hydro-methanolic extract of the sepals of Salmalia malabarica to diabetic rats resulted in a significant recovery in the parameters concerned. In the liver and kidney, the activities of catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (Px) were decreased significantly and levels of conjugated diene (CD) and thio-barbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) were increased significantly in diabetic rats which recovered significantly after administration of hydro-methanolic extract of S. malabarica. Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) activities which are increased in diabetes were restored by the extract. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1C) levels were resettled significantly in the extract treated group compared to the diabetic group. The antidiabetic activity of the extract was supported after a comparison with glibenclamide, a standard antidiabetic drug^.26

Antimicrobial activity:-

Corynebacterium macginleyi was achieved by Hexane, Chloroform and Methanol extracts of bombax ceiba plant extracts were screened by agar well diffusion method. The plant given activity up to 50 mg/ml, 55-100 mg/ml and 110-500mg/ml concentrations were treated as group A, B and C respectively. The chloroform extract of plants B. ceiba was given highest bioactivity at 35mg/ml as comparison to hexane and methanol extract^.27

Antioxidant activity:

Root of this plant was investigated for its antioxidant potential for the first time. Assessment of antioxidant activity was done using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and reducing power assay. Methanolic extracts of the roots showed high amount of phenolics (30.95%w/w) and tannins (15.45%w/w) and a very good DPPH radical scavenging activity (EC50 of 15.07 ug) in a dose dependent manner. The extract showed dose-dependent reduction ability (fe²⁺ to fe³⁺ transformation) with a maximum absorbance of 11.1 at a conc of 500ug of the extract and this strong antioxidant potential may be due to the presence of phenolic compounds, sesquiterpenoids and napthaquinones.

Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the bark were subjected in vitro antioxidant activity screening models such as DPPH, ABTS, nitric acid and superoxide radical scavenging activity, inhibition of lipid peroxidation, reduction of ferric ions and total antioxidant capacity. All the models studied, the extract shows potent antioxidant activity^28,29

Antiangeogenic activity:

A methanol extract of the stem barks of Bombax ceiba was found to exhibit a signiﬁcant antiangiogenic activity on in vitro tube formation of human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVEC). Bioactivity-guided fractionation and isolation carried out on this extract afforded lupeol as an active principle. At 50 and 30 µg/mL lupeol showed a marked inhibitory activity on HUVEC tube formation while it did not affect the growth of tumor cell lines such as SK-MEL-2, A549, and B16-F10 melanoma.³⁰

Analgesic activity:

Analgesic activity of the leaves extract and mangiferin were also evaluated by the acetic acid induced writhing test and hot plate test. These tests allow to analyze peripheral and centrally mediated antinociceptive responses. In the writhing test, the methanolic extract of B. ceiba leaves (BCL) its fraction (BCM) and mangiferin (1) induced a significant and dose dependent reduction in the number of writhes in mice compared to control animals. At 100 mg/kg the extract caused about 70% reduction in the number of writhes, whereas, at the same dose aspirin demonstrated about 10% greater inhibition. Analgesic activity was accumulated in magniferin which appears to be slightly better than aspirin (18.2_2.0 mg/kg).Using naloxone, it was revealed that plant extracts induced analgesia was independent of opaioid receptor, whereas, mangiferin demonstrated significant interaction with it at peripheral site with a slight contribution at the neuronal level³¹

Anticancer and anti-HIV activity

The methanolic extract of leaves and pure compounds mangiferin and acetyl derivative of mangiferin were evaluated in National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH, Bethesda, U.S.A.) for anticancer and anti-HIV activities³². All the samples were found to be inactive as cytotoxic and as anti-HIV agent. On the contrary, inhibitory effects of mangiferin in azoxymethane-induced rat colon carcinogenesis indicated its chemoprotective nature³³. This discrepancy may have arisen due to the differences between the in vitro vs. in vivo assays used to assess the anticancer activity and thereby emphasizes the need to conduct a combination of both types of assays before reaching a definite conclusion.

Toxicological studies:

The pollens of the plant were reported to play some role in causing pollen allergy (seasonal pollen fever, seasonal asthma and rhinitis) in Pondicherry area³⁴

CONCLUSION:

The above collected information regarding the use of Bombax ceiba in world is matched with available literature. Recent years, ethno-botanical and traditional uses of natural compounds, especially of plant origin received much attention as they are well tested for their efficacy and generally believed to be safe for human use. It is best classical approach in the search of new molecules for management of various diseases. Thorough screening of literature available on Bombax ceiba depicted the fact that it is a popular remedy among the various ethnic groups, Ayurvedic and traditional practitioners for treatment of ailments. Researchers are exploring the therapeutic potential of this plant as it has more therapeutic properties which are not known.

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Received on 30.12.2010

Accepted on 17.01.2011

Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 3(2): March- April 2011, 57-61