The Phytochemical Screening and Anti-cancer activity of Ethanolic Extracts of Selected Mangrove Plants

Mangrove ecosystems have been recognized to include a wide range of secondary metabolites, which are biochemically distinct, resulting in a diverse range of natural compounds with unique bioactivity. They have active metabolites with new chemical structures from a variety of chemical classes.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the phytochemical screening and cytotoxicity of four major mangrove plants (Excoecaria agallocha L., Acrostichum aureum L., Aegiceras corniculatum L., and Avicennia officinalis L.). 

This experimental study was held in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Laboratory of Khulna University, Bangladesh, in 2016. At the first phytochemical screening of the selected plants was observed. Then, the bioactivity as preliminary cytotoxic activity was performed using brine shrimp lethality (BSL) bioassay where a significant 50% Lethal Concentration (LC50) was exerted using polar solvent (ethanol) extract of different plant parts (leaf, bark, and stem). Then, Resazurin Cell Viability Assay was performed only for ethanolic leaf and bark extracts of E. agallocha using four standard bacteria (Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Salmonella typhi ATCC 6539, Salmonella paratyphi ATCC 9150, and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923).

The experimental findings showed significantly strong LC50 by ethanolic leaf and bark extracts of E. agallocha and other plants, like A. corniculatum, A. aureum, and A. officinalis showed moderate and negligible cytotoxicity, respectively. Then, the experimental findings showed significantly (P≤0.05) strong IC50 by ethanolic leaf and bark extracts of E. agallocha. 

The screens employed in this present study are preliminary and advanced assays are needed to verify and reveal further this bioactivity present in those plants, particularly E. agallocha.