In the present work, the ethanol extract of the barks of Phyllanthus acidus L. (Family: Euphorbiaceae) were investigated for preliminary phytochemical screening, cytotoxicity and antibacterial activities. The presence of phytochemical constituents was identified by characteristic changes using standard procedure. Brine shrimp lethality (BSL) bioassay was used to investigate the cytotoxic effect...

Chemical investigations of a microfungus Xylaria sp. isolated from the Australian rainforest tree Glochidion ferdinandi have afforded two new natural products, 2-hydroxy-6-methyl-8-methoxy-9-oxo-9H-xanthene-1-carboxylic acid (1) and 2-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-8-methoxy-9-oxo-9H-xanthene-1-carboxylic acid (2). Compound 1 has previously been synthesised but only partially characterised. Methylatio...

The toxicity and mutagenic potential of most African plants implicated in the management of cancer have not been investigated. The ethanolic extracts of selected Nigerian plants were subsequently studied using the brine shrimp lethality tests, inhibition of telomerase activity and induction of chromosomal aberrations in vivo in rat lymphocytes. Morinda lucida root bark, Nymphaea lotus whole pla...

BACKGROUND In South African traditional medicine, some are plants known to combat pediatric diseases and are commonly used by traditional healers. The aim was to evaluate cytotoxicity effects of plants. MATERIALS AND METHODS The ground plant material was exhaustively extracted using methanol, acetone and water separately for 72 hrs. These organic solvents were removed from filtrates using a r...

Twelve extracts obtained from nine plants belonging to six different genera of Clusiaceae were analyzed against Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) bacteria using the microdilution broth assay. Tovomita aff. longifolia, T. brasiliensis, Clusia columnaris, Garcinia madruno, Haploclathra paniculata, and Ca...

A series of oxy-polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) has been isolated from the extracts of Miamira magnifica and Miamira miamirana collected from Queensland, Australia. M. magnifica sequesters the new OH-PBDE 1 and six known OH-PBDEs containing four to six bromines (2-7). M. miamirana also accumulates known tribromo- and tetrabromo OMe-PBDEs 8-10 in both mantle and viscera tissues. To date...

Four commonly used spices plants in Iran were evaluated for cytotoxicity effect using Brine Shrimp Lethality (BSL) assay. Essential oils and various extracts of Heracleum persicum, Nigella arvensis, Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Zingiber officinale were assessed by two methods of disk and solution of BSL. Data were processed in probit-analysis program to estimate LC50 values. All of the tested frac...

Various extracts of local marine red algae, Acanthophora spicifera were evaluated for antioxidant activity, total phenolic content and in-vitro toxicity. The antioxidant activity was measured using DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhidrazyl) method, while Folin-Ciocalteu method was used for the total phenolic content. The cytotoxicity of the extracts were evaluated using invitro brine shrimp lethalit...

The essential oils of the aerial parts of A. armeniaca and A. incana, collected from Arasbaran area (East Azarbaijan province, Iran) were extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. In total, 16 and 40 constituents were identified and quantified in the oils of A. armeniaca and A. incana representing 80.5% and 84.6% of the oils, respectively. The essential oil of A. armeniaca was mainl...

Marine organisms such as ascidians, sponges and soft corals, containing symbiotic microorganisms are a rich source of bioactive compounds. This study examined the cytotoxic potential of two ascidians found in the coastal waters of Tuticorin. The ascidians samples Didemnum psammatode and Phallusia arabica were extracted in methanol and ethanol. The crude extracts were tested for cytotoxicity usi...