The study was designed to investigate the antidepressant effect of cardamom oil (50mg/kg) against experimentally induced depression by marble burying test in rats. The marble Burying test consists of a Polypropylene rat cage (42cmx26cmx15cm) with a stainless steel lid. The floor of the cage was covered with 2cm layer of sawdust and 20 marbles were distributed throughout the cage. Control rats were kept in the marble containing cage one by one for a period of 30 minutes, after which they were removed and the marble burying response (a response to depression) was quantified by the number of marbles that were buried more than two third with sawdust. The same procedure is repeated with test (Cardamom oil 50mg/kg) and standard (amitriptyline 15mg/kg) after one hour of administration of cardamom oil and amitriptyline. It was observed that number of marbles buried with test extract treated rats was found to be 4±0.577 and the number of marbles buried with control treated rats was found to be 11±2.646. Hence numbers of marbles buried by the test treated rats are less than the control treated rats. Hence by the decrease in number of marbles buried by cardamom oil treated rats when subjected to depression clearly indicates the presence of mood elevating components in cardamom oil. Preliminary phytochemical screening of cardamom oil indicates the presences of steroids, oil, fats and carbohydrates. Hence the above active constituents in the cardamom oil may be responsible for antidepressant activity.
