Accessed - 564 times.

Mohib Abdul Jalil Khan *, Imtiyaz Ansari, Amjad Ali Mohammad Iqbal

Oriental College of Pharmacy, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra- 400705, India.

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Volume 3, Issue 3, Page 142-146, September-December 2015.

Article history
Received: 10 December 2015
Revised: 18 December 2015
Accepted: 26 December 2015
Early view: 30 December 2015

*Author for correspondence
E-mail: mohibkhan1969@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Background: At worldwide level, volatile oils are being used in perfumery and as stimulant. It has been indicated that volatile oil of Piper laetispicum shows antidepressant activity. However, from literature survey, it was found that studies showing antidepressant effect of volatile oil of Piper nigrum and other culinary drugs used in the kitchen is lacking. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to examine whether the essential oil from culinary drugs have antidepressant-like activity in mice.
Material and Methods: Culinary drugs used in kitchen, Leaves-Bay, Curry, Coriander and Mint; Fruits-Star anise, Pepper, Cardamom, Caraway and Fennel; Seeds-Fenugreek, Mustard, Nutmeg and Black Cumin; Underground stem-Onion, Garlic, Ginger and Turmeric; Miscellaneous-Clove, Cinnamon, Capsicum, Tamarind and Asafoetida. Isolation is done either by hydro distillation or by steam distillation method. At the same time an attempt is made to evaluate antidepressant potential comparatively for the volatile oils of culinary herbs, using forced swimming method, on albino mice with Fluoxetine as standard antidepressant drug.
Results: All volatile oils, used in this study, produced a significant reduction in immobility along with an increase in climbing behavior which is similar to those which have been observed with fluoxetine. Essential oil caused a dose -dependent reduction in immobility and an increase in climbing at all studied doses, compared to control group.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggests that the Anise oil, Ginger Oil and Cumin oil, Cardamom oil, Cinnamon oil, Ajowan oil and Fennel oil possess an antidepressant -like activity similar to Fluoxetine which may have a potential clinical value for treatment of depression.
Keywords: Culinary herbs, Distillation, Fluoxetine, Antidepressant activity