In vitro antiplasmodial activity of chosen terrestrial medicinal plants against Plasmodium falciparum

Abstract

ObjectiveTo identify the possible antiplasmodial compounds from Carica papaya (C. papaya), Pongamia glabra (P. glabra), Phyllanthus emblica (P. emblica) L, Phyllanthus acidus (P. acidus) L, Pisonia grandis (P. grandis) and Moringa pterygosperma (M. pterygosperma). MethodsThe C. papaya, P. glabra, P. emblica L, P. acidus L, P. grandis and M. pterygosperma were collected from Ramanathapuram District, Tamil Nadu, India and the extraction was carried out in ethanol. The filter sterilized extracts (100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25 and 3.125 μg/mL) were tested for antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum). The potential extracts were also tested for their phytochemical constituents. ResultsOf the selected plants species, the leaf extract ofP. emblicaL showed excellent antiplasmodial activity (IC50 35.09 μg/mL) followed by leaf extract of M. pterygosperma (IC50 42.36 μg/mL), leaf extract of C. papaya (IC50 46.23 μg/mL) and leaf extract of P. glabra (IC50 48.17 μg/mL). The flower extract of M. pterygosperma showed IC50 values of more than 100 μg/mL. Statistical analysis reveals that, significant antiplasmodial activity (P<0.01) was observed between the concentrations and time of exposure. The chemical injury to erythrocytes was also carried out and it shows that, there were no morphological changes in erythrocytes by the ethanolic extract of all the tested plant extracts. The in vitro antiplasmodial activity might be due to the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, carbohydrates, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, triterpenoids, steroids and tannins in the ethanolic extracts of tested plants. ConclusionsThe ethanolic stem extracts of P. emblica L possess lead compounds for the development of antiplasmodial drugs.