Cytotoxicity Screening of Selected Indian Medicinal Plants using Brine-Shrimp Lethality Bioassay

ABSTRACT In the present work, ethanolic extracts of fourteen Indian medicinal plants viz. Acorus calamus (Araceae) stem, Asparagus racemosus (Asparagaceae) root, Aegle marmelos (Rutaceae) leaves and fruits, Cassia fistula (Fabaceae) fruits, Gymnema sylvestre (Asclepiadaceae) leaves, Holarrhena antidysenterica (Apocynaceae) bark, Mimusops elengi (Sapotaceae) bark, Ocimum sanctum (Lamiaceae) leaves, Piper longum (Piperaceae) leaves, Sapindus trifoliatus (Sapindaceae) fruits, Terminalia arjuna (Combretaceae) bark, Terminalia bellerica (Combretaceae) fruits, Terminalia chebula (Combretaceae) fruits and Withania somnifera (Solanaceae) roots were tested for brine shrimp lethality in order to detect potential sources of novel cytotoxic, antitumor and pesticidal compounds. Amongst tested extracts, ethanolic extracts of Piper longum, Holarrhena antidysenterica and Terminalia chebula showed most potent cytotoxic activity with LC 50 of 10, 104 and 107 μg/mL respectively