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Research Journal of Phytochemistry

Year: 2012 | Volume: 6 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 25-30
DOI: 10.17311/rjphyto.2012.25.30
Cytotoxicity and Antifungal Activities of Ethanolic and Chloroform Extracts of Cucumis sativus Linn (Cucurbitaceae) Leaves and Stems
Joysree Das, Anusua Chowdhury, Subrata Kumar Biswas, Utpal Kumar Karmakar, Syeda Ridita Sharif, Sheikh Zahir Raihan and Md Abdul Muhit

Abstract: Cucumis sativus Linn. (Family: Cucurbitaceae) is commonly known as cucumber which has medicinal use in the entire world. The main objective of the present study was to examine the ethanolic and chloroform extracts of leaves and stems of the medicinal plant for cytotoxicity, antifungal activities and phytoconstituents. To determine the cytotoxicity and antifungal activities, brine shrimp lethality bioassay and agar disc diffusion methods were used, respectively. The extracts were subjected to in vitro cytotoxicity studies at 5, 25, 50, 100, 125, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350 and 400 μg mL-1 and antifungal study at the dose of 80 μg disc-1. The antifungal activity of the extracts was compared with standard drug, Griseofulvin at 30 μg disc-1. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay, the LC50 (μg mL-1) and LC90 (μg mL-1) of the ethanolic extract of Cucumis sativus were 35.48 and 141.25 μg mL-1, respectively. The chloroform extract of the cucumber also showed lethality against the brine shrimp nauplii (LC50: 75.86 and LC90: 151.36 μg mL-1). Moreover, the ethanolic extract and chloroform extracts of Cucumis sativus showed moderate antifungal activities against all tested organisms used in this study with zones of inhibition ranging from 4.40±0.18 to 1.67±0.08 mm and 3.45±0.04 to 1.50±0.12 mm, respectively. Thus, the ethanolic extracts of Cucumis sativus showed more potent cytotoxicity and Aspergillus niger was the most susceptible fungal strain to ethanolic extract of Cucumis sativus. The presence of different phytoconstituents e.g., alkaloid, glycoside, steroid, saponin, flavonoid and tannin as confirmed by preliminary phytochemical screening suggested that the identified compounds might play an important role for cytotoxicity and antifungal effects. Finally, it was concluded that ethanolic and chloroform extracts of leaves and stems of Cucumis sativus possessed cytotoxicity and antifungal activities.

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How to cite this article
Joysree Das, Anusua Chowdhury, Subrata Kumar Biswas, Utpal Kumar Karmakar, Syeda Ridita Sharif, Sheikh Zahir Raihan and Md Abdul Muhit, 2012. Cytotoxicity and Antifungal Activities of Ethanolic and Chloroform Extracts of Cucumis sativus Linn (Cucurbitaceae) Leaves and Stems. Research Journal of Phytochemistry, 6: 25-30.

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