Toxicological investigations of Aloe ferox Mill. extracts using Brine shrimp [Artemia salina L.] assay

ABSTRACT

Cytotoxicity of the extracts of Aloe ferox using brine shrimp was evaluated. Effects of the extracts on hatchability and lethality of brine shrimps were reported in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration and LD[50] respectively. The hatching success was in the order aqueous root extract [39.8%] >aqueous leaf [26.5%] >acetone leaf [13.7%] > ethanol leaf extracts [2.5%]. Hatchability in incubations of ethanol and acetone extracts was found to be dose - dependent, with hatching success decreasing as the concentration of the extracts increased. The lethality of extracts was in the order aqueous leaf extract [4.7%] >aqueous root extract [4.2%] >acetone leaf extract [3.5%] >ethanol root extract [2.6%] > ethanol leaf extract [1.8%] >acetone root extract [0.7%]. Mean mortality of nauplii in the control was higher [6.7%] than that of all the extracts. Based on Meyer's index of toxicity, the acetone leaf extract with LD[50] >1.0mg/mL could be considered as non toxic, while the ethanol root extract [LD[50] <1.0mg/mL was significantly toxic to the brine shrimp. Since the extracts of A. ferox have consistently exhibited significant pharmaceutical properties in-vitro, the nontoxic extracts could further be exploited for the development of plant-based pharmaceuticals