Phytochemical screening, cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, antimutagenicity, and protective potentials of the different solvent extracts from the air-dried leaves of Crescentia cujete Linn.

Abstract

Crescentia cujete Linn. is a fast-growing evergreen tree in the Philippines. Folklore says C. cujete Linn. has been used as an alternative medicine to treat ailments such as hematoma and tumors. In this study, air-dried leaves of C. cujete Linn. was prepared and partitioned using hexane, and ethyl acetate as solvents and was qualitatively assessed for the presence of phytochemical constituents. Secondary metabolites like flavonoids, tannins, reducing sugar, and steroids were observed in the preliminary phytochemical screening of hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts. Cytotoxicity of the different extracts were determined using brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT). Median lethal concentration (LC50) of the hexane, aqueous, and crude ethanolic extracts were determined after 6 hours of exposure showing 572, 3048 and 220 ppm, respectively. Moreover, LC50 of the hexane, aqueous, and crude ethanolic extract, after 24 hours of exposure, were also determined showing 0, 0.184, and 6.47 ppm, respectively. The hexane, aqueous, and crude ethanolic extracts of C. cujete Linn. were also tested for its mutagenicity, antimutagenicity, and protective potentials using peripheral blood micronucleus test. The number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocyte (MNPCE) observed from the mutagenicity test of hexane, aqueous, and crude ethanolic extract administered at a dose of 50mg/kg and 100mg/kg showed an average mean of 16.7,14.6 and 14.7, respectively, are lower compared to that of the positive control, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), showing 49.5 number of MNPCE. Also, results for the antimutagenicity and protective potentials of hexane, aqueous, and crude ethanolic extract administered at a dose of 50mg/kg and 100mg reduced the number of MNPCEs produced by the MMS.

Antioxidant Properties and Toxicity Assessment of the Crescentia cujete Extracts in Brine Shrimp (Artemia salina)

“…However, the findings of the current study do not support the previous studies. Billacura and Laciapaq (2017) and Billacura and Pangcoga (2017) found that the median lethal concentrations of the aqueous and ethanolic extract of the C. cujete fruit and leaves are lower compared to those detected in this study. However, the toxicity of the aqueous extracts of C. cujete is higher than that of the 100% ethanolic extracts in agreement with this study.…”

“…The phytochemical screening of the crude ethanol extracts of the C. cujete leaves showed the presence of steroids, saponins, alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, terpenes and flavonoids (Das et al 2014). Conversely, Billacura and Pangcoga (2017) reported that the crude ethanolic and aqueous extracts of C. cujete contains trace levels of tannins and alkaloids. These data indicate the reason for low toxicity of the fruit extracts.…”

“…However, the toxicity of the aqueous extracts of C. cujete is higher than that of the 100% ethanolic extracts in agreement with this study. The differences can be due to different preparation methods of the samples; the samples were air dried in the study of Billacura and Pangcoga (2017), whereas the samples were freeze-dried in this study. Furthermore, the differences in the extraction methods can be only one of the factors.…”

Cytotoxic Activity Test Of Ethanolic Extract Of Berenuk Fruit (Crescentia Cujete L.) On Artemia Salina Leach Shrimp Larva Using Brine Shrimp Lethality Test (BSLT) Method

“…Maka dari itu, penggunaan pelarut yang digunakan dalam ekstrak akan berpengaruh terhadap nilai LC50 yang dihasilkan. Selain bagian buahnya, bagian lain dari buah berenuk yaitu daun (25), biji (9), kulit batang dan kulit akar (26) juga memiliki sifat toksik. Didukung oleh penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Billacura dan Pangcoga (2017) menguji aktivitas sitotoksik pada daun berenuk menggunakan metode BSLT dengan pelarut aquades dan ethanol mendapatkan hasil nila LC50 nya sebesar 0.184 ppm pada pelarut aquades serta 6.74 ppm pada pelarut ethanol yang berarti keduanya bersifat sangat toksik (25).…”

“…Selain bagian buahnya, bagian lain dari buah berenuk yaitu daun (25), biji (9), kulit batang dan kulit akar (26) juga memiliki sifat toksik. Didukung oleh penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Billacura dan Pangcoga (2017) menguji aktivitas sitotoksik pada daun berenuk menggunakan metode BSLT dengan pelarut aquades dan ethanol mendapatkan hasil nila LC50 nya sebesar 0.184 ppm pada pelarut aquades serta 6.74 ppm pada pelarut ethanol yang berarti keduanya bersifat sangat toksik (25). Pengujian aktivitas sitotoksik juga dilakukan pada bagian biji buah berenuk yang diuji oleh Arel (2018) dengan menggunakan metode BSLT yang mendapatkan nilai LC50 sebesar 82,30 ppm sehingga hasil tersebut dikatakan toksik karena nilainya kurang dari 1000 ppm (9).…”