In-vitro anti-microbial and brine-shrimp lethality potential of the leaves and stem of Calotropis procera (ait).

Abstract

ethno-medicinal therapies ranging form oral, skin, gastro-intestinal to
respiratory problems. The effects of this plant on the sensitivity of microorganisms need verification and its potential for cytotoxicity needs to be investigated. Thus, the anti-microbial and brine–shrimp lethality studies
on the leaves and stem were carried out. The crude ethanolic extract of
the stem and its ethylacetate fraction elicited good antibacterial activity
against clinical strains of Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus but
gave minimal activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae
and Salmonella typhi but none against the fungal isolate; Candida
albicans. The brine-shrimp lethality assay analyzed using the Finney
probit method showed that the crude ethanolic extracts of the leaves and
stem displayed LD50 values at 192 ppm and 182 ppm respectively. These
findings indicate the potential of the plant as panacea for infectious
diseases and also reveal a novel potential in the fight against tumors in
man. (Afr. J. Biomed. Res. 9: 205 – 211)

Keywords: Anti-microbial, extracts, fractions, brine-shrimp lethality, Calotropis procera