Original Articles
Mariya Mohd Tahir, Yip Chee Wa
Abstract
This study described the chemical and biological activities of leaves and roots of Asplenium nidusfractions. Methanol extracts of leaves and roots were fractionated using hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate and the phytochemical contents were determined. High alkaloid and terpenoids were detected. Cytotoxicity towards Vero cells determined by MTT assay revealed the concentration that reduces 50% of cell viability (CC50) ranged from 0.12 to 1.87 mg/mL which can be considered assafe. The antibacterial activities of fractions were evaluated against eleven types of bacterial pathogens with theminimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). From the MIC and MBC values leaves chloroform fraction showed bactericidal against several bacteria. The selectivity indices (SI=CC50/ MIC) for antibacterial activity of each fractions varied from 0.006 to 0.3 indicating that these fractions have a potential as antibacterial agent. Antiviral activity using Herpes simplex virus Type-1 (HSV-1) showed all of the fractions have antiviral activity with effective concentration (EC50) values between 0.01 to 0.125 mg/mL. The selectivity indices (SI = CC50/EC50) for antiviral of each tested fractions ranged from 0.96 to 29.92 indicating the usefulness of the extracts as potential antiviral agents.