Cytotoxic and Antitumor Activities of Ethanolic Extracts of Salt Marsh Plants from the Lower Saxonian Wadden Sea, Southern North Sea

Abstract

Twenty-eight plant species belonging to fifteen families were subjected to a screening for cytotoxic and antitumor activities with three test organisms in six bioassays. Freshly hatched larvae and four week old adults of Artemia salina LEACH are used for the detection of acute toxic activity after 6 h and chronic toxicity after 24 h. Adult Daphnia magna STRAUS were used to establish toxic activities of the extract after 48 h. Finally the potato disc assay with Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used to detect antitumor compounds. Of the screened plants, Limonium vulgare MILL., Artemisia maritima L. and Salicornia europaea L. showed significant cytotoxic activity against Artemia salina LEACH and Daphnia magna STRAUS. Extracts of these plants also showed anti-neoplastic activities in the potato disk assay. The extracts of Ononis spinosa L., Trifolium fragiferum L. and Trifolium repens L. showed tumor growth inhibiting activities.