Pharmacological screening of six Amaryllidaceae species

Abstract

Dichloromethane and 90% methanol extracts of different parts of 6 Amaryllidaceae species were investigated for anti-inflammatory (COX-1 and COX-2), antibacterial and mutagenic ( Salmonella/microsome test strain TA98) activities. Antibacterial activity was carried out using disc diffusion assay against three Gram-positive ( Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Microccus luteus) and two Gram-negative ( Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacteria. With the exception of the leaf of Cyrtanthus mackenii, all CH 2Cl 2 extracts of different parts of Cyrtanthus species inhibited the growth of at least one bacterium, with the CH 2Cl 2 bulb/root extracts of Cyrtanthus suaveolens showing broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. In the anti-inflammatory assay, CH 2Cl 2 extracts, resuspended at 500 μg/ml, from different parts of all species under investigation, inhibited activity of both COX-1 and COX-2 by at least 70%. The most active, 90% methanolic extracts (resuspended at 500 μg/ml) were from the leaves (78%) and roots (76%) of Cyrtanthus falcatus and the leaves of Gethyllis ciliaris (70%). Only CH 2Cl 2 extracts of Cyrtanthus falcatus (leaf and root) and Cyrtanthus suaveolens (bulb/root and leaf) had a mutagenic effect in the Salmonella/microsome assay strain TA98.