Phytochemical Screening and Wound Healing Ability of Ethanol Extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. Leaves on Excisional Wound in Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus)

Aims: To evaluate the qualitative and quantitative screening of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves and to investigate the healing potential of its ethanol extract on full-thickness excisional wound in a guinea pig model.

Place and Duration of Study: The plant sample was collected from Naraha Rural Municipality- 05, Siraha district, Nepal, and all laboratory works were carried out in Natural Products Research Laboratory, Thapathali, Kathmandu from 3 March 2023 to 1 December 2023.

Methodology: The leaves extract was prepared by cold extraction process at 80% ethanol. Then, the preliminary phytochemical test of the extract was performed. The total phenolic contents using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, the total flavonoid content using aluminium chloride colorimetric assay, and the antioxidant potential of the extract were also determined using diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reagent. Sixteen guinea pigs were used to create four full-thickness wounds on each with 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm dimensions on the lumbodorsal area. The wounds were randomly divided into four groups: A: control with no treatment, B: treated with 5% extract ointment, C: treated with 10% extract ointment and D: treated with standard (5% povidone iodine). The wound healing rate and gross evaluation of ten animals were calculated on various days of treatments whereas excisional biopsies of six animals were evaluated histopathologically.

Results: The extract exhibited total phenolic, total flavonoid contents, and antioxidant values of 229.14±3.61 mg GAE/g, 22.97±0.45 mg QE/g, and 606.55 μg/mL respectively. Wound healing rates of four wounds were significant on day 8, 11 and 14 (p < .05) but non-significant on days 1, 3, and 5. Similarly, 10 % extract was found to be more effective than 5% extract, 5% povidone iodine for improvement on border and crust formation scores on wound due to faster maturation of granulation tissue, early angiogenesis, collagen deposition, and epidermis formation, and lesser acute inflammatory cells.