“…The dye SRB can bind with proteins in viable cells under mild acidic conditions, and the bound dye is finally solubilized to get absorbance at 500–540 nm (Skehan et al, ). The SRB and MTT assays have been extensively used to assess cytotoxic effects of pure compounds and extracts in our laboratory (Ediriweera, Tennekoon, Adhikari, et al, ; Ediriweera et al, ; Ediriweera et al, ; Ediriweera, Tennekoon, Samarakoon, Thabrew, & De Silva, ; Ediriweera, Tennekoon, Samarakoon, Thabrew, & de Silva, ; Ediriweera, Tennekoon, Samarakoon, Thabrew, & Dilip De Silva, ; Jayarathna et al, ; Nwokwu et al, ; Tharmarajah et al, ). Although these assays (MTT, MTS, XTT and WST) are cheap and easy to conduct, interaction of testing substances with the salts/dyes and damaging of cells during washing steps are the major disadvantages of these assays (Wang, Henning, & Heber, ).…”