Chemical Profiles and Biological Activities of Common Medicinal Plants Artemisia vulgaris, Cyanthillium cinereum, Eleucine indica, and Gliricidia sepium

Abstract

For centuries, people rely on medicinal plans for treatment of various ailments. Many natural products provide a wide range of various properties for medicinal properties from which other drugs content have been extracted. This study sought to determine the phytochemical components of four medicinal plants namely Artemisia vulgaris, Cyanthillium cinereum, Eleucine indica, and Gliricidia sepium and evaluate their cytotoxic, antioxidant, and antitumor activities. Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) was done to determine the secondary metabolites present in each plant extract. Cytotoxicity of the extracts was determined by Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA). Antioxidant capacity was also determined through Folin-Ciocalteu method where their ascorbic acid equivalents were computed. Antitumor potential was determined against Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Results showed an array of secondary metabolites like alkaloids, phenolics, flavonoids, sugars, triterpenes, and essential oils. The plants have antioxidant capacities ranging from 220-7,300 mg AAE/g extract, where A. vulgaris showed the highest potential. Cytotoxicity assay showed that the extracts are not toxic at 6-hr exposure but exhibited toxicity at 12-hr exposure on A. salina. The extracts showed antitumor potential with C. cinereum having the highest activity at 60% tumor inhibition. Further undertakings include the isolation of the bioactive metabolites of the different medicinal plants and for further assays on pharmacological effects of the extracts.