Purpose: To investigate the crude n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of
Aphanamixis
polystachya
fruit for their cytotoxic, antimicrobial, antioxidant and thrombolytic activities.
Methods: The fruit extracts were screened for major phytochemical compounds using in vitro
established procedures. Antimicrobial and cytotoxic studies of the fruit extracts were conducted using
disc diffusion and brine shrimp lethality bioassay methods, respectively, while an in vitro thrombolytic
model was used to assess the clot lysis effect of the extracts with streptokinase as positive control.
Antioxidant activity was evaluated by free radical scavenging activity using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide assay as well as total phenolic content.
Results: The fruit extracts were a rich source of phytochemicals and among the extracts n-hexane
extract showed highest antimicrobial activity against
Shigella dysenteriae
(zone of inhibition: 9.7±0.2
mm) and
Candida albicans
(zone of inhibition: 8.8±0.3 mm) at a concentration of 1000μg/disc, whereas
at the same concentration methanol extract showed highest zone of inhibition, 10.1±0.4mm, against
Staphylococcus aureus. Compared to potassium permanganate with a median lethal concentration
(LC
50) of 13.23 μg/ml in the brine shrimp lethality assay, the LC
50 of n-hexane, ethyl acetate and
methanol extracts were 15.77, 17.51 and 141.37 μg/ml, respectively. All the extracts showed significant
clot lysis activity (p < 0.001) with reference to negative control and % clot lysis of the extracts were
approximately 13. Notable antioxidant activity of the methanol extract was observed unlike the other
extracts.
Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrated the potential cytotoxic, thrombolytic and antioxidant
activities of the fruit extracts of A. polystachya and therefore further studies on the isolation and
identification of active principles are required.
