Mukia maderaspatana L. (called as musumusukkai in Tamil) is an important medicinal plant used as a herbal drug in
cough and cold by folklores. The present study was carried out to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of various leaf extract
(hexane, chloroform, acetone, ethylacetate, ethanol and aqueous) of M. Maderaspatana on meristematic cells of root tips of
Allium cepa. Locally available Allium cepa bulbs were grown in 50ml water for 48 hours for root sprouting and then they
were exposed to 10mg/ml concentration of each of the extract separately for 48 hours. Tap water was used as control and the
cytotoxic drug methotrexate (1mg/ml) served as standard. The results indicated that the mitotic index and root growth rate of
A.cepa were considerably decreased in treated in comparison to the control. Also the most effective extract was found to be
acetone which reduced the mitotic index significantly. Its EC50 was found to be 10 mg/ml. Further, it was able to induce a
high DNA fragmentation followed by leaf ethanol extract in Allium cepa root tip cells.
Key words: Mukia maderaspatana, Allium cepa, methotrexate, mitotic index, EC50, DNA fragmentation
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