RESUMO
The natural products are widely used in many fields as pharmaceutical, flavor, industrial, and additive compounds. In many cases, there is a need to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of these products and to determine the non cytotoxic concentration at which they can be used in a safe manner. The objective of the present study was to compare two methods of evaluation the cytotoxic effect of a plant extract. The MTT assay and the PI dye-inclusion assay were used to carry out the experiments. The results were then evaluated by calorimetric and flow cytometry assays. The obtained results showed that a clear difference between the two methods and the cell death using the MTT assay seem to be overestimated. To better evaluate the cytotoxic effect of natural product, we need to carry out several in vitro and in vivo tests before the judgment that a compound is safe to use and at which concentration.