Preliminary phytochemical analysis and cytotoxic potential of Cucumis trigonus Roxb

Aim: The present study involves in the investigation of various extracts of Cucumis trigonus Roxb. for its phytochemical constituents and also the cytotoxic potential of the Cucumis trigonus Roxb. ethanolic fruit extract. Methods: The phytochemical screening with methanol, ethanol, petroleum ether, chloroform and aqueous extracts of Cucumis trigonus Roxb. was done by modern method of Peach and Tracey (1955) Cytotoxicity is estimated by staining technique using Trypan blue after the addition of drug, the dead cells are stained blue with Trypan blue. Confirmation studies were done by additional metabolic intervention experiments like (3-(4, 5-dimethyl thiazol-2yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) MTT assays. Results: Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the plant extracts were done and it was found that the presence of phytochemicals were maximum in the ethanolic extract when compared to other extracts. So the ethanolic extract of C. trigonus fruit was used for further investigations. In the cytotoxic study the ethanolic fruit extract concentration at 1.25 mg / ml was found to be the effective dose because at this concentration, it exhibited 50% cytotoxicity against Hep2 cells. Conclusion: These results conclude that the ethanolic fruit extract of Cucumis trigonus possess a good phytochemical strength and also an effective cytotoxic potential. [J Intercult Ethnopharmacol 2012; 1(1.000): 13-18]