EVALUATION OF PLANTAGO LANCEOLATA AGAINST BRINE SHRIMP LETHALITY ASSAY

 

Choo Chee Yan and Zakiyah Moorbannoo

 

MedChem Herbal Research Group, Faculty of Pharmacy,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, Selangor, Malaysia

 

Plantago lanceolata, belonging to the family of Plantaginaceae, has been known to be used as a traditional medicine in the treatment of cancer by locals in Mauritius. In the present study, extracts of this medicinal plant was screened for their cytotoxic activity using the brine shrimp lethality assay. The brine shrimp lethality assay is a simple and convenient method for the assessment of bioactivity. The ground roots and leaves were extracted with aqueous methanol. The dried methanol extract was suspended in water and sequentially partitioned to afford the hexane, chloroform and residue extract. The chloroform extract from the leaves exhibited significant toxicity with minimum LC₅₀ of 379 ± 30 μg/mL, whereas the root extracts were relatively inactive with LC₅₀ of more than 1000 μg/mL.