DETERMINATION OF ANTI-BACTERIAL ACTIVITY AND IN VITRO CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY USING BRINE SHRIMP LETHALITY ASSAY OF CAESALPINIA BONDUCELLA LINN EXTRACTS

Brine shrimp lethality assay is an important tool for preliminary assessment of cytotoxicity of herbal drugs. This method is used for the determination of LC50 values of herbal extracts. The root bark of Caesalpinia bonducella, which is reported in traditional literature for its anti-tumour activity, had been selected to test for brine shrimp lethality activity and antibacterial potentialities by Agar well diffusion method against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria at concentrations of 150 and 300 μg/mL. Ciprofloxacin (100 μg/mL) was used as the standard drug. Present study shows that the LC50 of ethanolic and aqueous extract Caesalpinia bonducella root bark were found to be 190.30 and 282.18 ug/mL, respectively. The ethanolic and aqueous extract of Caesalpinia bonducella root bark exhibited antibacterial activity. Ethanolic extract showed better sensitivity towards S. aureus and B. subtilis as compared to aqueous extract while ethanolic extract showed moderate sensitivity towards E. coli and K. pneumoniae.