In vitro cytotoxicity studies of 20 plants used in Nigerian antimalarial ethnomedicine

Twenty plants identified and selected from Southwest and Middle belt Nigerian antimalarial ethnopharmacology were evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity using the brine shrimp lethality assay. The methanol extracts of 20 plant samples from 11 plant families were subjected to the assay. Of the studied plants, Lippia multiflora and Morinda lucida bark were found to be cytotoxic, with LC50 values of 1.1 and 2.6 μg/ml, respectively. The least toxic plant extract was Bridelia micrantha (LC50 value >9.0×106 μg/ml). Most of the plants were found to be relatively non-toxic.