Abstract:
Plants have been extensively used for medicinal purposes and human disease management since early ages, due to
presence of valuable chemical identities. Present study was carried out to identify chemical identities and the
cytotoxicity of Spilanthes paniculata Wall. ex DC. which belongs to family Asteraceae. This plant is commonly
known as ‘Tooth-ache plant’ due to the presence of anesthetic properties. A mother stock has been maintained for
experiments. Leaves obtained from green-house grown plants and in vitro callus cultures of 3-weeks-old were used
in this study. In vitro callus induction was optimized with leaf disc explants grown on MS medium supplemented
with 0.15 mg/L of NAA and 1.50 mg/L of BA. GC-MS analysis of ethyl acetate extracts of leaf and callus samples
confirmed the existence of the key chemical compound spilanthol in both samples, with significantly higher amount
in fresh leaves. Cytotoxicity tests confirmed the toxicity of hexane extracts of leaf and callus samples against late
third/ early fourth instar larvae of Aedes aegypti and nuaplii of Artemia salina (100% mortality with 800 μg/mL).
Leaf extracts were found to be highly toxic (70% mortality with 100 ppm for A. aegypti and 100% mortality with
800 μg/mL for nuaplii of A. salina) to both test organisms than callus extract.
Description:
Department of Botany, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
[Email: wtpsk2011@yahoo.com]
