Bauhinia variegata Linn., (Caesalpiniaceae) commonly known as kanchanar, is widely used in Ayurveda. It is a medium sized tree abundant in Sub-Himalayan tract extending eastwards to Assam, Eastern, Central and South India. The various parts of the plant traditionally used in fever, as tonic, astringent, diarrhoea, dysentery, hemorrhoids, piles, edema, laxative, analgesic, anthelmentic, antileprotic, skin diseases, wound healing, antitumor, in obesity, stomatitis, antidote for snake poisoning, flatulence and as carminative. They are useful in vitiated conditions of pitta and kapha. A thorough survey of literature indicates that there is less work done on the chemical investigations of the plant. Preliminary phytochemical screening on petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanolic and aqueous extracts of stem bark shows the presence of steroids, triterpinoids, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, saponin, flavonoids, and resins. The earlier findings that the plant extracts are rich in flavanoids having the ability to exert anti-inflammatory effects and hence the present study was undertaken to evaluate the comparative study of antiinflammatory activity on various extracts of stem bark of Bauhinia variegata Linn., by carragenen induced paw edema method using plethismometer in albino rats.
