Cytotoxicity of Citrullus lanatus (Thunb) Mansf. on Artemia salina (brine shrimp test)

Abstract

A study on cytotoxicity of Citrullus lanatus (water melon) extracts on Artemia salina (Brine shrimp test (BST) was carried out using extraction and cytotoxicity standard procedures, to determine cytotoxic effects of the plant extracts . The stems, leaves and seeds of light bark variety of C. lanatus were collected from karfi plantation site, Kano State, Nigeria. The plant parts were air dried, pulverized and extracted using 95% ethanol. The three ethanolic extracts from stems, leaves and seeds were further fractionated using chloroform, water, 90% methanol and petroleum ether. The three extracts and twelve fractions namely: ethanol soluble extracts, chloroform soluble fractions, water soluble fractions, methanol soluble fractions and petroleum ether soluble fractions from stem leaves and seeds were subjected to the brine shrimp test. The ethanol extracts and water fraction of the seeds of C. lanatus demonstrated high toxicity in BST at 13.4 and 14.56 μg/ml respectively. It therefore suggests the use of C. lantus seeds for the development of anti-cancer and insecticidal agents.