Study of antidiarrhoeal activity of four medicinal plants in castor-oil induced diarrhoea

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of aqueous and methanolic plant extracts of Acorus calamus rhizome, Pongamia glabra leaves, Aegle marmelos unripe fruit and Strychnos nux-vomica root bark for their antidiarrhoeal potential against castor-oil induced diarrhoea in mice. The methanolic plant extracts were more effective than aqueous plant extracts against castor-oil induced diarrhoea. The methanolic plant extracts significantly reduced induction lime of diarrhoea and total weight of the faeces. The result obtained establish the efficacy of these plant extracts as antidiarrhoeal agents. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.