Asian Journal
Of Traditional Medicines

Abstract: Tecoma stans is popularly known as Yellow bell and is, an ornamental plant widely distributed throughout India. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the CNS depressant potential of different extracts of Tecoma stans flowers. The flowers extracted successively with solvents of increasing polarity, namely, chloroform, methanol and water. Albino mice (18-25 g) of both sexes were used in these experiments and the CNS depressant activity was evaluated by measuring the pentobarbitone- induced sleeping time and locomotor activity using an actophotometer. The methanolic extract of Tecoma stans flowers (400 mg/kg) exhibited the highest activity, significantly (P<0.01) reducing the time to onset and sleep duration induced by pentobarbitone, and the extract also reduced locomotor activity by 68.36%. The water and chloroform extracts also exhibited dose- dependent CNS depressant activity. These results indicate that different extracts of Tecoma stans flowers exhibit CNS depressant activity.

Key words: Tecoma stans, pentobarbitone, actophotometer, methanolic extract