Cytotoxicity, Mutagenicity and Antimicrobial Activity of Forty Jordanian Medicinal Plants

Abstract

Ethanolic extracts of forty Jordanian medicinal plants were examined for cytotoxicity, mutagenicity and antimicrobial activity. Among the 40 tested plants, 12 extracts were active in brine shrimp cytotoxicity bioassay with LC₅₀ in the range of 74-748 μg/rnl. These positive extracts were further tested for their antitumor activity on human cell cultures. Nerium oleander and Calotropis procera showed an activity in the antitumor human cell line test with ED₅₀ varied in the range of 0.008 to 2.13 μg/ml. depending upon the cell line. Regarding the mutagenic effect, ten extracts were active on Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100. The most active extract was Peganum harmala which was mutagenic against both TA98 and TA100, while Ceratonia siliqua showed the lowest activity against both tested strains. Four extracts showed antibacterial activity on both Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis and two showed antifungal activity agains Candida albicans.