• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.162-170
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• 2007

Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz. (Lythraceae), commonly known as Dhayero, is used in the treatment of various ailments in Nepal. In this study, the antioxidant capacity of crude extract and different polarity fractions of Woodfordia fruticosa flowers were assayed for their scavenging abilities against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide radicals, competitive ${\beta}$-carotene bleaching, reducing power, metal chelating ability and total phenolic content. Crude extract and polar fractions showed stronger antioxidant capacity and contained very high level of total phenolics. They exhibited strong DPPH radical scavenging, nitric oxide scavenging and reducing power, medium ${\beta}$-carotene bleaching and poor metal chelating capacity. Positive correlation obtained between total phenolic content and antioxidant capacity assays, indicated the contribution of phenolics toards antioxidant capacity.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.903-906
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• 2008

Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz (Lythraceae) is used in the treatment of various ailments in traditional medicines. DPPH activity guided fractionation and purification process was used to identify the free radical-scavenging components from the flowers of this plant. The methanolic extract of the plant was first fractionated into four extracts; namely, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and water fractions. Among them, the ethyl acetate fraction was found to be the most effective and was further subjected to activity guided-fractionation and isolation procedures. After successive column chromatography on silica gel and Sephadex LH-20, gallic acid, which is responsible for the radical scavenging activity, was isolated and its structure was elucidated by spectral methods ($^1H$ NMR, $^{13}C$ NMR) and by comparison with literature.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.161-167
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• 2013

Aldose reductase (AR) has been shown to play an important role in the development of the diabetic complications. To discover novel treatments for diabetic complications from natural sources, 59 Chinese herbal medicines have been investigated for inhibitory activities on AR. Among them, 10 herbal medicines, Catalpa fargesii (stem and leaf), Saussurea Laniceps(whole plant), Alnus nepalensis(stem and leaf), Swertia macrosperma (whole plant), Woodfordia fruticosa (stem and leaf), Elsholtzia bodinieri (whole plant), Elsholtzia fruticosa (whole plant), Rosa multiflora (fruit), Nardostachys chinensis (whole plant), Eurya groffii (stem and leaf) exhibited a significant inhibitory activity compared with 3,3-tetramethyleneglutaric acid (TMG) as positive control. Particularly, 4 herbal medicines, C. fargesii (stem and leaf), S. Laniceps (whole plant), A. nepalensis (stem and leaf), S. macrosperma (whole plant) showed two times more potent inhibitory activity than TMG ($5.37{\mu}g/ml$).

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1564-1568
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• 2007

In this study fourteen ethanol extracts from Nepalese medicinal plants were screened for their in vitro antimicrobial and antiradical activity and their total phenolic content was evaluated. The antiradicalactivity was evaluated by free radical scavenging assay, using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH). Plant extracts showed a wide range of radical scavenging activity, with $IC_50$ value ranging in between $5.38\; {\mu}g/\;mL$ - $429.61\;{\mu}g/mL$. Strong radical scavenging activity was shown by flower extract of Woodfordia fruticosa ($5.38\;{\mu}g/\;mL$) and stem bark extract of Azadirachta indica ($5.58 {\mu}g/\;mL$)that also contained high phenolic content. Most of the sample showed activity below the concentration of $100\; {\mu}g/mL$. For antimicrobial activity three test microorganisms namely Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus epidermidis, and Candida albicans were used. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the plant extracts was determined. Most of the plant extracts were effective against bacterial strains only at higher concentration ($800\;-\;1,600\;{\mu}g/mL$) but none of these were effective against Candida albicans below $1,600\;{\mu}g/mL$.