Abstract
EVALUATION OF MUSCLE RELAXANT AND LOCOMOTOR ACTIVITY OF PHYLLANTHUS EMBLICA ON SWISS ALBINO MICE

Phyllantus emblica is perhaps the single most often mentioned herb in "Charak Samhita", the Ayurvedic medicine literature (500 BC). It is a wonder herb and one of the precious gifts of nature to humans. It is known as "Divya" and "Amrut" or AmritPhala in Sanskrit, which literally means fruit of heaven or nectar fruit. One Indian plant stands out as being exceptional for its ethnic, ethnobotanical and ethno pharmaceutical use. The main components of P. emblica vitamin C (richest source) emblicanin A & B, puniglucanin, pedunculagin, glutamic acid, proline, aspartic acid, alanine, lysine, ellagic acid, and hexahydroxy-diphenic acid. It is an indispensable part of the ayurvedic and unani system with amazing remedial qualities. In Sanskrit, it is called Amalaki or Dhartiphala. Here dried fruits were powdered and extracted with Soxhlet Extractor using methanol. Two different doses of same extract were used on Swiss albino mice to study muscle relaxant and locomotor activity against Diazepam as the standard drug. It was observed that Phyllanthus emblica possess significant skeletal muscle relaxant activity and locomotor activity comparable to the standard one. Hence same extract can be used to isolate pure compound which can be utilized for rational designing of drugs for muscle relaxation and altering locomotor activity.