Anti-Inflammatory effects of Ipomoea mauritiana Tuber: An In Vitro Evaluation using Egg Albumin Denaturation

Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq. is traditionally used in herbal medicine for the management of inflammatory conditions, but scientific validation of its activity remains scanty. This paper, therefore, reports an evaluation of the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanolic tuber extract of I. mauritiana using an egg albumin denaturation method. The tuber powder was extracted using Soxhlet extraction with 80% ethanol; the crude extract was assayed at 100–500μg/mL concentration, with diclofenac sodium as the standard. The extract inhibited protein denaturation in a dose-dependent manner, with a percentage of inhibition ranging from 21% to 70%, while the standard, diclofenac, inhibited the denaturation within the same concentrations by 36–76%. The IC₅₀ value of the extract and standard was calculated as 333μg/mL and 241μg/mL, respectively. Thus, the results show that I. mauritiana exhibits significant anti-inflammatory activity to support its traditional use; however, further in vivo studies and phytochemical investigations are required to understand the active principles and establish the therapeutic potential of this plant.