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Biological Activities Of <i>Schefflera leucantha</i>


B Potduang
C Chongsiriroeg
Y Benmart
R Giwanon
W Supatanakul
S Tanpanich

Abstract



This study investigated various biological activities of the ethanolic extract of dried ground leaves of Schefflera leucantha Viguier (Araliaceae). The extract possessed very low cytotoxicity to brine-shrimp with the LC50 of 4,111.15μg/ml; the significant antioxidant activity on DPPH with the EC50 of 71.90μg/ml; the inhibitory activity on mushroom tyrosinase with the IC50 of 10.53mg/ml using the dopachrome microplate-assay. The extract of 5-20mg/ml range in the agar dilution assay were active against various pathogenic microbial (11 species, 11 strains), with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 5mg/ml against Clostridium spp.; MIC=10mg/ml against enteropathogens as Bacteroides spp., Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Lactobacillus spp., Peptococcus spp. and Streptococcus mutans; MIC=10mg/ml against a pneumonia causing bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae and a dermatopathogen as Propionibacterium acnes; MIC=20mg/ml against dermatopathogens as Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Streptococcus spp. and Candida albicans ATCC 90028. TLC fingerprints of the specific extracts from the leaf powder exhibited zones of steroids-terpenes and flavonoids. HPLC fingerprint of the flavonoid extract was performed.

Keywords: Schefflera leucantha, Antioxidant, Antityrosinase, Antimicrobial activity, Phytochemistry

African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 4 (2) 2007: pp. 157-164

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eISSN: 0189-6016