Abstract:
Medicinal plants are defined as feral and/or cultivated plants that, based on tradition and
literature records, can be directly or indirectly used for medical purposes. The basis for
this use is that these plants contain so called active ingredients (active principles or
biologically active principles) that affect physiological (metabolic) processes of living
organisms, including human beings. The plant Phyllanthus acidus has been used for the
general promotion of health and longevity. It is used as a traditional medicine for the
treatment of various diseases. The root is an active purgative. An infusion of the root is
taken to alleviate asthma, the leaves are used as one of the ingredients in a Thai remedy to
control fevers, an infusion of the leaves is used as a dieting aid for people who are dieting
and wish to remain slim, The latex is credited with emetic and purgative activity, the fruit
is used as a laxative, they are also taken as a liver tonic to enrich the blood. The aim of
the present study is to evaluate the antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity of
Ethyl Acetate (EA) extract of Phyllanthus acidus. The test sample of Phyllanthus acidus
exhibited zone of inhibition ranging from 0 to 10.0 mm against the test organisms. The
highest (10.0mm) zone of inhibition was demonstrated against Vibrio parahaemolyticus.
The brine shrimp lethality bioassay was performed to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of
EA extract of the Phyllanthus acidus by their brine shrimp lethality. From this test, the
concentration required for killing 50% of the brine shrimp larva or LC50 of the EA
extract of the Phyllanthus acidus was calculated approximately as 0.262 μg /mL with a
R2 value of 0.225. So, it is evident that the EA extract of Phyllanthus acidus is highly
cytotoxic as well as biologically active and also has mild to moderate antimicrobial
potentiality. The present study showed that it has poor antioxidant activity compared to
standard. This is only a preliminary study but the plant can be further screened against
various diseases in order to find out its unexplored efficacy and can be a potential source
of biologically important drug candidates. Still there are plenty of scopes to establish a
variety of properties which can be significantly beneficial to mankind.
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) in East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
