Assessment of Bioactivity of an Ethnomedicine:Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit

The work reported in this study is a part of research project that encompasses pharmacological and phytochemical investigation of some ethnopharmacologically important plants of Chhattisgarh- India. Here preliminary work done on Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit. (H. suaveolens), is reported as this plant is being used to treat a wide assortment of diseases by the local inhabitants of Chhattisgarh. The pharmacological potential of this plant was evaluated by using some benchtop bioassay methods like antimicrobial, antioxidant, brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT) and crown gall tumor assay. These studies were carried out to screen H. suaveolens for its bioactivity so that further study can be carried out.

The alcoholic extract of H. suaveolens was fractioned into chloroform soluble and insoluble fraction and both were subjected for these in vitro studies. Both the fractions of H. suaveolens methanolic extract were found to exhibit significant activity in all the bioassay models. The results were compared with those produced by standards used in each study model respectively. The present study supports that the bioassay methods are simple reliable and convenient method for assessment of bioactivity of medicinal plants and lends support for their use in traditional medicine.