Gastroprotective bio-guiding study of fruits from Mimusops balata

Mimusops spp. is used as plant-based antiulcer drugs in Indian traditional medicine. In this study, a bio-guiding study of methanolic extracts of Mimusops balata edible fruits was performed to identify an antiulcer gastric compound. The gastric lesions induced by HCl/ethanol in mice were significantly improved by methanolic extract from seed (MESe, 300 mg/kg), but not by methanolic extract from peel (MEPe, 300 mg/kg) or pulp (MEPu, 300 mg/kg), when compared to the vehicle group. Treatment with MESe also decreased gastric ulceration induced by indomethacin. The antiulcerogenic activity of MESe appears to involve the maintainance of GSH levels, reduction of LPO content, inhibition of neutrophil migration (as evidenced by a decrease in the MPO activity) and a potent free radical scavenger activity (IC50 = 3.4 μg/ml). Moreover, MESe decrease the gastric volume, pH, total acidity, and pepsin activity in the gastric juice. Exceptionally, MESe showed a high content of phenolic compound, identified by layer chromatography and Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. Considering the better pharmacological and phytochemical profile, MESe was successively partitioned and resulted in isolation and identification of a constituent, the flavonoid taxifolin, identified by spectroscopic methods ((1)H, (13)C NMR, and HPLC). Taxifolin also inhibited the ulcerogenic effect of HCl/ethanol at a low dose of 1.14 mg/kg and inhibited in vitro H+/K(+)-ATPase activity by 41% at a concentration of 100 μg/ml. Taken together, these results evidenced the gastroprotective potential of fruits from M. balata and showed that this effect is exclusive to the seeds.