17 K. H. Janbaz U. Zia M. H. Mehmood S. Bashir M. I. Choudhary A. H. Gilani Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JAPS 20122012/08/01 22 4 954-959 1018-7081 NA <p>The plants of genus&nbsp;<em>Corchorus</em>&nbsp;have a folkloric repute to possess anti-inflammatory activity. The crude ethanolic extract of&nbsp;<em>Corchorus fascicularis</em>&nbsp;Lam. (CFE) was screened for presence of anti-inflammatory, free radical scavenging and calcium channel blocking (CCB) activities to validate its vernacular use. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was used to assess free radical scavenging activity, anti-inflammatory potential was estimated&nbsp;<a id="OLE_LINK1" name="OLE_LINK1">through inhibitory effect on carrageenin</a>-induced rat paw edema, whereas calcium channel blocking (CCB) effect was explored on isolated rabbit jejunum preparations. The CFE (50 and 100 mg/kg) administration resulted in a significant (P &lt; 0.05) decrease in rat paw edema similar to aspirin, while a concentration-dependant (IC50: 95.91 &plusmn; 3.07 &micro;g/ml) inhibition of DPPH was achieved in a manner comparable to propylgallate (standard). The CCB-like effect was evidenced as CFE exhibited a concentration-dependant (0.01&ndash;1 mg/ml) non-specific relaxant effect in rabbit jejunum, which was supported further by a rightward shift of the Ca++ concentration-response curves, similar to verapamil. These results indicated presence of free radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory and CCB activities in&nbsp;<em>Corchorus fascicularis</em>&nbsp;and may be attributed to the possible presence of flavonoids and tannins among the plant constituents. The present study thus validates the folkloric use of&nbsp;<em>Corchorus fascicularis</em>&nbsp;in inflammatory diseases.</p> Corchorus fascicularis, Anti-inflammatory, DPPH scavenging, Calcium antagonist. Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2012-JAPS-422