IN VITRO CYTOTOXIC, ANTIOXIDANT AND GC-MS STUDY OF LEAF EXTRACTS OF CLERODENDRUM PHLOMIDIS

Clerodendrum phlomidis is a shrub common in India and Sri Lanka. It is one of the highly traded medicinal plants from tropical forests, as the leaves and roots are used in folk-lore, Ayurveda, Siddha and Unnani medicines. In this study preliminary phytochemical screening, cytotoxic, antioxidant and GC – MS study of leaf of C. phlomidis was evaluated. Successive extraction of the leaf of C. phlomidis was carried out with 5 solvents petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and water. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH free radical scavenging assay at four different doses of 31.25, 125, 500 and 1000 µg/mL, cytotoxic potential was studied by brine shrimp lethality assay at four different doses of 1, 10, 100 and 1000 µg/mL. GC-MS analysis of methanol leaf extract was carried out on Thermo GC-TRACE ultra version: 5.0, Thermo MS DSQ II. Phytochemical screening analysis of the extracts indicated the presence of secondary metabolites such as steroids, steroidal glycosides, phenols, saponins, coumarins, alkaloids and flavanoids. Methanol leaf extract showed significant cytotoxic potential with the LC₅₀ value of 9.62 µg/mL and good DPPH free radical scavenging activity with the IC₅₀ value of 71.64 µg/mL. GC-MS analysis of the methanol extract revealed the presence of 17 compounds. Most of the identified compounds possess medicinal values such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti inflammatory, vasodilator, analgesic, sedative, dermatitigenic, hypocholesterolemic, antidiabetic, anti-tumor, cancer preventive etc. Methanol extract of the C. phlomidis leaf can be used as a lead for the isolation of the cytotoxic active chemical constituents in further study.