Anti-proliferating activity of some toxic and medicinal plants used by Wancho tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Medicinal plants extend to show an imperative role in the rural healthcare system of developing countries, where herbal medicine has a continuous history of long use. Field studies were conducted following standard ethnobotanical techniques to collect information on the use of toxic and medicinal plants used by the Wancho tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. Vigna radiata was used as a plant model in this study to investigate the antiproliferative property of selected medicinal plant extracts. Green gram seedling root apical meristem cells were used to determine the inhibition of germination and slow growth. Different concentrations of plant extract (20, 50, 250 and 500 µg/ml) were treated in a test tube containing the green gram seeds (n=5) on time dependent manner. Colchicine (20 mg/ml) was used as a standard drug for the growth retardation of green gram seedlings, while the distilled water group served as negative control. Germination test of Vigna radiata L. was performed according to ISTA (International Rules for Seed Testing) rules. The present study concludes that the methanolic plant extracts of all the collected plants significantly inhibited the rate of seed germination and seedling growth at dose dependent manner. It signifies that the use of Phlogacanthus parviflorus and Mikania micrantha in high concentrations may be potentially therapeutic for inhibiting the cell cycle in eukaryotic organisms.