Anti-Inflammatory effects of Ipomoea mauritiana Tuber:

An In Vitro Evaluation using Egg Albumin Denaturation

Surya S. Nair*, G. N. Pramodini

Department of Pharmacognosy, Nehru College of Pharmacy,

Kerala University of Health Scienes, Thrissur, Kerala, India.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: suryakrishnaa1999@gmail.com

ABSTRACT:

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.

KEYWORDS: Ipomoea mauritiana, Anti-inflammatory, Albumin denaturation assay, Phytochemicals, Medicinal plants.

INTRODUCTION:

Herbal drugs are defined as plant-derived materials, such as leaves, flowers, seeds, roots, bark, and stems, used for the preparation of medicinal formulations. The WHO also describes a medicinal plant as one with herbal products that undergo any procedure of extraction, fractionation, purification, or concentration and are intended for direct therapeutic use or as an ingredient in herbal preparations.

Ethnopharmacological research has tended to confirm that many of the traditionally used medicinal plants are generally innocuous and exhibit significant pharmacological activities¹. Plant origin naturally occurring compounds still represent the major source of new therapeutic agents, providing almost 60% of the presently available drugs, while many synthetic drugs are merely purified and modified derivatives of naturally occurring compounds².

Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq. of the family Convolvulaceae is a climbing vine and is also known as a morning glory plant³. The tuberous root of this plant is rich in scopoletin, β-sitosterol, taxaxerol, and taraxerol acetate, which are important phytoconstituents⁴. The plant has been traditionally used in various herbal systems to address inflammatory and dermatological disorders. Despite the use of several medicinal plants to treat inflammation, their efficacy and bioactive principles, which confer anti-inflammatory activity, are not well understood in many plants⁵.

Inflammation is a very complicated biological response and comprises the denaturation of proteins as one of its major features. This may be inhibited by anti-inflammatory phytochemicals present in various plant extracts and confer some therapeutic value. However, despite the traditional use of I. mauritiana, scientific evidence regarding validating its anti-inflammatory property is still scanty. The present study, therefore, investigates the anti-inflammatory potential of the ethanolic extract of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber using the egg albumin denaturation assay to support traditional medicinal use and add to the scientific understanding of the plant.

Figure 1: Ipomoea mauritiana plant

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Extraction:

To extract the plant constituents from 25 grams of dried, powdered tuber of Ipomoea mauritiana, used a Soxhlet apparatus with 500 mL of 80% ethanol. Once the extraction was complete, filtered the mixture. Then filtrate concentrated by evaporating the solvent. stored the resulting crude extract in an airtight container and calculated the percentage yield⁶.

Weight of extract

Percentage yield = ––––––––––––––––––––––––– × 100

Weight of plant material taken

Anti-inflammatory Activity: Albumin Denaturation Assay:

The in vitro effect of the crude extracts was determined by measuring their ability to inhibit egg albumin protein denaturation.

Preparation of 1% egg albumin:

Begin by accurately measuring 1 gram of egg albumin powder. Then, place this powder in roughly distilled water (70–80 mL) in a beaker. Mix it using a glass rod or magnetic stirrer until the powder fully dissolves. Remember that egg albumin may take a bit to completely dissolve, so be patient and try not to form any foam. Once it is all dissolved, put the solution in volumetric flask, if you have one, and add 100 mL distilled water. If you don't plan to use it immediately, be sure to store it at 4 °C (just refer to your protocol for any special instructions).

Procedure:

· The reaction mixture was prepared by combining 2 mL of the test extract or Diclofenac sodium (at different concentrations) with 0.2 mL of 1–2% egg albumin solution, then adjusting the volume to 5 mL with 2.8 mL of phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4).

· For the control mixture, 2 mL of triple-distilled water was mixed with 0.2 mL of 1–2% egg albumin solution, and the volume was adjusted to 5 mL with 2.8 mL of phosphate-buffered saline.

· The mixtures were initially incubated at 37 ± 2 °C for 30 minutes, then heated in a water bath at 70 ± 2 °C for 15 minutes.

· Once cooled, the absorbance of the samples was recorded at 280 nm, using distilled water for the blank reference⁷.

RESULT:

Extraction: Soxhlet Extraction:

Based on the extractive value, we found that ethanol produced a higher yield. Scopoletin and quercetin were extracted using 80% ethanol as solvent.

Figure 2: Ethanolic extract of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber

Table 1: Percentage yield of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber extract

Sl. No.	Extract	Percentage Yield
1.	Ipomoea mauritiana tuber ethanolic extract	17 % w/w

Anti- inflammatory Activity: Albumin Denaturation Assay:

The effects of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber extract were evaluated at various concentrations.

Table 2: The effect of IMEE on different concentrations compared with standard

Concentration µg/ml	Absorbance (Standard)	Percentage inhibition % (Standard)	Absorbance (Extract)	Percentage inhibition % (Extract)
100	0.52± 0.02	36	0.64±0.01	21
200	0.46±0.01	43	0.53±0.05	35
300	0.32±0.05	60	0.42±0.03	48
400	0.24±0.04	70	0.33±0.04	54
500	0.19±0.03	76	0.24±0.02	70

Graph 1: Anti-inflammatory activity of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber extract at different concentrations compared with standard

IC₅₀value, which represents the concentration required to produce 50% inhibition.

Standard IC₅₀-241µg/ml

Extract IC₅₀-333 µg/ml.

The findings demonstrate dose-dependent enhancement in anti-inflammatory activity. While extract was always less active than the control throughout, the gap closed at higher doses, demonstrating that the extract is increasingly effective with rising dose. These results indicate that Ipomoea mauritiana tuber ethanolic extract has considerable anti-inflammatory activity, possibly caused by the content of bioactive phytochemicals whose anti-inflammatory activity is well-documented. Although less effective than the control at lower concentrations, the extract is highly effective at higher doses and therefore holds good promise for use as a natural anti-inflammatory agent.

DISCUSSION:

The present study evaluated the anti-inflammatory activity of the ethanolic extract of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber by using the egg albumin denaturation method, a well-established in vitro model for evaluating compounds that prevent protein denaturation. Protein denaturation is a key mechanism associated with the inflammatory response, and agents capable of inhibiting this process may contribute to anti-inflammatory effects.

The results indicated that the extract displayed a dose-dependent increment in its inhibitory activity, from 21% at 100µg/mL to 70% at 500µg/mL. Even though diclofenac sodium inhibited more at all concentrations, the difference between the extract and the standard was smaller as the dosage increased, showing that the plant has moderate to high activity at higher doses.

The effect above could be attributed to the presence of bioactive phytoconstituents previously reported for anti-inflammatory properties, namely, scopoletin, β-sitosterol, and taraxerol derivatives. Plants of the genus Ipomoea, including I. batatas, have been shown to exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities, further supporting the pharmacological relevance of I. mauritiana.

The IC₅₀ of the extract, which has been determined as 333µg/mL, confirms its potential to inhibit protein denaturation, though not as potent as that caused by diclofenac sodium (IC₅₀: 241µg/mL). This is because plant extracts are complex mixtures of compounds and are not pure active molecules. Yet, the results achieved herein for the extract reflect considerable pharmacological potency.

The results are in agreement with the traditional use of I. mauritiana in various inflammatory conditions and further underscore the need to study plants as alternative or complementary therapeutic agents. However, the present study is restricted to an in vitro model alone; thus, further studies should include in vivo anti-inflammatory studies, toxicity studies, and isolation of the active principles to elucidate their mechanism of action and improve their therapeutic potential.

CONCLUSION:

The ethanolic extract of Ipomoea mauritiana tuber showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in the albumin denaturation assay with a clear dose-response relationship. Although this extract was less potent compared to the standard drug diclofenac sodium, the IC₅₀ value of 333 µg/mL demonstrated meaningful inhibition of protein denaturation at higher concentrations. These observations validate the traditional use of I. mauritiana in inflammatory conditions, pointing toward the active role of bioactive phytoconstituents responsible for anti-inflammatory action. Further studies are recommended to validate its therapeutic potential and develop it as a natural anti-inflammatory agent, along with in vivo studies and isolation of active compounds.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors have no conflicts of interest regarding this investigation.

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Received on 28.11.2025 Revised on 20.12.2025

Accepted on 09.01.2026 Published on 15.04.2026

Available online from April 18, 2026

Asian J. Pharm. Res. 2026; 16(2):147-150.

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5691.2026.00022

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