ABSTRACT

Background: Ancient Unani, Egyptian, Chinese and many other manuscripts hold records of healing rituals and therapeutic uses of different herbs, inferring that they were used for medicinal purposes since the first human civilizations. A medicinal herb produces compounds (phytochemicals) which stimulate therapeutic responses and is hence a potential component a medicinal drug formulation. Adhatoda vasica a well-known herb of the Acanthaceae family has been frequently used in the Unani and Ayurvedic traditional practices of medicine. Several of its parts (leaves, bark, root, and flowers) are used to treat a multitude of medicinal conditions and several microbial infections. Objectives: An analysis of the phytochemical profile of Vasaka leaves and to study their cytotoxic effect on Artemia salina and Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytotoxic assays. Methods: Phytochemical profiles for their presence in the methanol extract, chloroform extract and petroleum ether extract of Adhatoda were analysed by a number of tests. Cytotoxic effect of the extracts was studied on brine shrimp (%mortality of nauplii) and yeast (%cell death) Results: The phytochemical analysis of the plant extract showed a profile with lot of variations, having a unanimous negative result for proteins and glycosides inferring no presence in any extract. Methanol extract displayed highest toxicity towards brine shrimp, and chloroform extract was the most toxic towards yeast culture. Conclusion: Phytochemical profiles reveal the presence of important bioactive chemicals in plants. The different extracts showed a variation in the presence of different phytochemicals. Furthermore, thecytotoxic assays of yeast and brine shrimp are convenient, affordable, and readily available to analyse and study the potential of compounds against parasitic and fungal infections. Keywords: Adhatoda vasica, Brine shrimp lethal assay, Cytotoxicity studies, Phytochemical analysis, Yeast cytotoxic assay
Publication date: 01/05/2024

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2024/May/MS_IJBPAS_2024_8051.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2024/13.5.8051