Biological Investigation of Ethyl Acetate Extract of Mentha Arvensis

Abstract

The study was designed for biological investigations of ethyl acetate fraction of Mentha arvensis. The powder of Mentha arvensis were extracted with methanol and then partitioned with ethyl acetate, petroleum ether and DCM consecutively & the ethyl acetate fraction remaining at the end. The ethyl acetate fraction was remaining at the beaker was investigated for the antioxidant & cytotoxic test. The fraction contained 106 mg AAE/g of total flavaniod content,153 mg AAE/g of total phenolic content & 14.9 mg AAE/g of total reducing power content. Screening for cytotoxic properties using brine shrimp lethality bioassay with Tamoxifen (LC50 value of 12.5 μg/ml) as positive control showed that the fraction have considerable more cytotoxic potency exhibiting LC50 value 6.25 μg/ml. The ethyl acetate fraction showed more cytotoxic activity & less antioxidant activity. Further investigations are needed for the proper identification and isolation of these bioactive compounds to produce safer drugs for treatment of harmful diseases.