Phytochemical Analysis, Cytotoxic and In vitro Antioxidant Activity of Erythrina variegate Bark

Aim: The objective of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical analysis, cytotoxic and antioxidant activities of the bark extracts of Erythrina variegate.

Place and Duration of Study: The plant, E. variegate was collected from Botanical Garden, Mirpur, Dhaka and also from Curzon Hall, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in June 2014 and then the sample was identified by the National Herbarium of Bangladesh, Mirpur, Dhaka (DACB; Accession Number- 36148).

Methodology: Preliminary phytochemical screening was done for determining the nature of phytoconstituents. Brine shrimp lethality bioassay technique was done to study the cytotoxic properties. Aluminum chloride colorimetric method was applied for the determination of flavonoids and the total antioxidant ability was assessed by the phospho-molybdenum method.

Results: Primary phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloid, carbohydrate, glycosides and flavonoids. The extracts showed some toxicity to A. salina with LC50 values ranging from 1.41 to 3.66 μg/ml which was compared with standard vincristine sulphate (VS, LC50 value 0.92 μg/ml). n-Hexane extract of E. variegate was found to contain highest amount of flavonoids (3.77±1.97 mg/gm; quercetin equivalent) and ethanol extract of E. variegate was found to have highest antioxidant acitivity (2.03±0.09 mg/gm ascorbic acid equivalent).

Conclusion: It can be concluded that the plant extracts of E. variegate possess several antioxidant activities which justifies its use as folk medicine.