Description

Padmaka is an important drug used as one of the ingredients in many Ayurvedic preparations. The accepted source of this drug is the heart-wood or some times the stem of Prunus cerasoides D. Don of family Rosaceae. The south Indian market sample of Padmaka is identified as the flowers of Careya arborea Roxb of family Lecythidaceae. The present study was undertaken to evaluate pharmacognostical characters, phytochemical analysis and pharmacological studies (antiulcer activity) on stem bark of C. arborea Roxb. To carry out this study, the drug material was collected from surroundings of Papanasam forests vicinity of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu. For antiulcer activity, three models such as ethanol induced, cold stress induced and pyloric ligation model were adopted. To the animals having ulcer, the alcohol and aqueous extract was given orally and observed for reduction in ulcer index, volume of gastric juice and total acidity. Both extracts offered protection against ulcer and the effects were found to be dose dependent. The antiulcer activity was found to be statistically significant when compared with the control group.