Vol. 9, Special Issue 5, Part D (2025)

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the methanolic extract of aerial parts of Crotalaria pallida (MECP) for the anti-pyretic activity in Wistar albino male rats and antioxidant activity in vitro. Pyrexia was induced by injecting 15% (w/v) brewer’s yeast intraperitoneally. Group I served as normal control administered with saline and Group II rats were injected with paracetamol, @ 100 mg/kg i.p. The group III, IV and V were administered with methanolic extract of C. pallida @ 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 300mg/kg p.o respectively. The temperature was recorded every 30 minutes for up to 3hrs to monitor the progression of pyrexia and effectiveness of the treatments. The IC₅₀ value for MECP and standard ascorbic acid was 11.114 and 7.367 mg/mL respectively. MECP at the dose of 300 mg/kg revealed significant (p<0.05) anti-pyretic activity in comparison to Group II (standard drug paracetamol) and Group I (control). The in vitro antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of C. pallida aerial parts was assessed using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) assay and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) using ascorbic acid as a standard. In FRAP assay, 500 µg/mL concentration of MECP produced antioxidant activity similar to the antioxidant activity exhibited at 75 µg/mL concentration of ascorbic acid.