RESEARCH ON IN-VITRO ANTI-ULCER AND ANTHELMINTIC ACTIVITY BY ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF IPOMOEA OBSCURA

Medicinal plants continue to be a rich source of pharmacologically active compounds, and Ipomoea obscura (L.) Ker Gawl. (Convolvulaceae), a climbing plant used in traditional medicine, is one such species worth closer study given its reported antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. This study looked at the phytochemical composition of an ethanolic leaf extract of I. obscura alongside its in-vitro anti-ulcer and anthelmintic potential. Leaves were collected and authenticated, then shade-dried, powdered, and extracted using cold maceration with ethanol. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, terpenoids, glycosides and saponins; steroids were absent. Anti-ulcer activity was gauged using the acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) method, with an aluminiumhydroxide–magnesium hydroxide formulation as the reference antacid. The extract yielded ANC values of 116, 64.5, 28.8 and 14.65 mEq/g at concentrations of 100, 200, 500 and 1000 µg/ml, compared to 27.5 mEq/g for the reference at 500 µg/ml. For anthelmintic activity, paralysis and death times were recorded in Pheretima posthuma. At 20 mg/ml, the extract induced paralysis in 12.03 minutes and death in 23.20 minutes close to albendazole's 10.54 and 22.37 minutes at the same concentration with effects becoming more pronounced at higher concentrations, while untreated worms stayed alive for up to 7 hours. Taken together, these results point to genuine acid-neutralizing and anthelmintic activity in the extract, though they represent early-stage in-vitro findings rather than proof of clinical benefit. Confirming any therapeutic releance will require more rigorous mechanistic, toxicological and in-vivo work.