Evaluation of Antioxidant, Anti-microbial and Cytotoxic activity of Methanolic Extract of Phyllanthus Acidus Leaves

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.