Paper Details

Comparative phytochemical, cytototic and growth inhibitory effects of the leaf and root barks of Sarcocephalus Latifolius (J.E. Smith) E.A. Bruce (Rubiaceae)

Ikpefan Emmanuel Oise, Ayinde Buniyamin Adesina, Adedokun Adekanmi Oluwasegun

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/4.4.162-169

Int. J. Biosci. 4(4), 162-169. February, 2014. (PDF)

Abstract:

Sarcocephalus latifolius is indicated in traditional herbal medicine as one of the plants used in treating tumor-related ailments in south western Nigeria. The cytotoxic and growth inhibitory effects of the methanol extract of the leaf and root bark were examined using the tadpoles of Raniceps ranninus and radicle length of Sorghum bicolor seeds respectively. The methanol extracts of the leaf produced 16.67 ± 2.38 % mortality at a concentration of 100 µg/ml and was eventually increased to 33.30 ± 7.60% mortality at 400 µg/ml while the root bark at concentrations of 200 and 400 µg/ml produced 100 % mortality over a period of 24 hr. An average growth length of 4.96 ± 0.77 mm was produced by the radicle of the control seeds in 24 hr and was reduced to 1.97 ± 0.68, 0.65 ± 0.47 and 0.27 ± 0.37 mm in the seeds treated with 10, 20 and 30 mg/ml of the leaf extracts. At 96 hr in which the control recorded a total length of 48.55 ± 6.21 mm in relation to 6.72 ± 2.13, 3.48 ± 0.64 and 2.38 ± 0.68 mm produced by the seeds treated with 10, 20 and 30 mg/ml of the leaf extract respectively which implies 86.16, 94.89 and 95.01 % reduction in growth length whereas there was 82.30, 95.60 and 98 .67 % reduction in radicle length by root bark extract at the same concentrations. The results implied the ethnomedicinal claimed of the plant particularly the root bark in the treatment of cancer.