Phytochemical composition and brine shrimp cytotoxicity effect of rosmarinus officinalis

Abstract

Plant compounds exhibit enormous structural diversity, unfortunately only a small proportion of that diversity has been seriously explored for pharmacological potential. The use and commercialization of non-timber plant products which include medicinal plants has been found to be an important livelihood strategy in developing countries especially for the rural people. The current study was carried out on the crude aqueous extracts of leaves of Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) to evaluate the plants phytochemical composition using standard methods. The cytotoxicity and lethality effects on the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) of four organic extracts and also an aqueous extract of the rosemary leaves was studied using three concentrations (10, 100, 1000 ) µg/ml. The data was analyzed using Finney’s probit analysis method with the help of Biostat 2009. The phytochemical analysis showed presence of; terpenoids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, reducing sugars and saponins. All the extracts gave moderate medial lethal concentration (LC 50) between 220 and 470 µg/ml. Cytogenic compounds in the extract caused the brine shrimp high lethality which corroborates the wide use of rosemary in the health care. Rosemary plant could be seen as a good source for useful drugs.