Extraction, Maceration and Assessment of Potential toxicity of Crude Ethanol Leaf-Extract and Fractions of Naucleadiderrichii

Abstract

Naucleadiderrichii is widely used in folk medicine in the treatment of infectious diseases inMada District, Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria and other parts of Africa. This study deals with the extraction, maceration and evaluation of the level of toxicity in crude ethanol leaf-extract and other fractions of the crude using Artemiasalina(brine shrimp) model. The crude leaf-extract (Nd-CETE), was extracted using absolute ethanol, while the fractions (Nd-PETF, Nd-CHLF and Nd-EAF) of the crude were obtained through maceration using solvents of varying polarity gradient (petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate). The lethality of the Brine shrimp nauplii was in a concentration dependent fashion, with increasing lethality due to increase in concentration of the crude extract/fractions. The Lethality ofcrude extract and those of fractions were based on Meyerʼs index of toxicity. Fractions of petroleum ether and Chloroform were found to be non-toxicity withLC₅₀ 3,239.09 and 1,574.60 µg/mLrespectively, while the crude ethanolleaf-extract (Nd-CETE) and ethyl acetate fraction (Nd-EAF) demonstrated high levels of toxicity in Artemiasalina with LC₅₀342.90 and 578.08 µg/mL respectively, which signify toxicity in a brine shrimp model. The study concludes that, the crude leaf-extract and ethyl acetate fraction of Naucleadiderrichiipossesses cytotoxic behavior, suggesting the presence of potential bioactive chemical components. Further in vivo and cell lines cytotoxicity test is recommended to substantiate these findings.