CYTOTOXIC, ANTIBACTERIAL AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITY STUDIES OF THE SOLVENT EXTRACTS OF AERIAL STEMS OF EQUISETUM DEBILE ROXB

The cytotoxic potential of the different solvent extracts of Equisetum debile were examined by using brine shrimp lethality bioassay. However, n-hexane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol extract exhibited quite potent activity in brine shrimp lethality bioassay with LC50 4.25, 3.36 and 4.40 µg/mL, respectively. These result suggested that they might be contain antitumar or pesticidal activity. Further, ethyl acetate extract showed significant free radical scavenging activity with IC50 24.8 µg/mL. On the other hand, ethyl acetate and n-butanol extract demonstrated excellent antibacterial activity with a zone of inhibition of 9 ± 1mm against the tested pathogenic microorganisms.