The Hymenocallis littoralis, an ornamental and medicinal plant, had been traditionally used for wound healing. In the present study, an analytical method using HPLC with ultraviolet detection was developed for the quantification of lycorine in the extracts of different parts of wild plant and tissue culture samples of H. littoralis. The separation was achieved using a reversed-phase column. The method was found to be accurate, repeatable, and sensitive for the quantification of minute amount of lycorine present in the samples. The highest lycorine content was found in the bulb extract (2.54 ± 0.02 μg/mg) whereas the least was in the root extract (0.71 ± 0.02 μg/mg) of the wild plants. Few callus culture samples had high content of lycorine, comparable to that of wild plants. The results showed that plant growth regulators, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) alone at 4.5 μM (2.58 ± 0.38 μg/mg) or a combination of 2,4-D at 9.00 μM with 4.5 μM of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP), were the optimum concentrations for the production of high lycorine (2.45 ± 0.15 μg/mg) content in callus culture. The present analytical method could be of value for routine quantification of lycorine in the tissue culture production and standardization of the raw material or extracts of H. littoralis.
Natural insecticides from plant origin against mosquito vectors have been the main concern for research due to their high level of eco-safety. Control of mosquitoes in their larval stages are an ideal method since Aedes larvae are aquatic, thus it is easier to deal with them in this habitat. The present study was specifically conducted to explore the larvicidal efficacy of different plant parts of Ipomoea cairica (L.) or railway creeper crude extract obtained using two different solvents; methanol and acetone against late third-stage larvae of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae). Plant materials of I. cairica leaf, flower, and stem were segregated, airdried, powdered, and extracted using Soxhlet apparatus. Larvicidal bioassays were performed by using World Health Organization standard larval susceptibility test method for each species which were conducted separately for different concentration ranging from 10 to 450 ppm. Both acetone and methanol extracts showed 100% mortality at highest concentration tested (450 ppm) after 24 h of exposure. Results from factorial ANOVA indicated that there were significant differences in larvicidal effects between mosquito species, solvent used and plant parts (F=5.71, df=2, P<0.05). The acetone extract of I. cairica leaf showed the most effective larvicidal action in Ae. aegypti with LC50 of 101.94 ppm followed by Ae. albopictus with LC50 of 105.59 ppm compared with other fractions of I. cairica extract obtained from flower, stem, and when methanol are used as solvent. The larvae of Ae. aegypti appeared to be more susceptible to I. cairica extract with lower LC50 value compared with Ae. albopictus (F=8.83, df=1, P<0.05). Therefore, this study suggests that the acetone extract of I. cairica leaf can be considered as plant-derived insecticide for the control of Aedes mosquitoes. This study quantified the larvicidal property of I. cairica extract, providing information on lethal concentration that may have potential for a more eco-friendly Aedes mosquito control program.
Spider lily (Hymenocallis littoralis) belongs to Amaryllidaceae family is a well-known plant species for its medicinal properties. The inhibitory effects of H. littoralis methanol sonication extracts were evaluated for wound healing activity. This is the first report on the wound healing activity of Malaysian origin H. littoralis. The bulb, flower, root, anther, stem and leaves of H. littoralis methanol sonication extracts were used for scratch-wound assay. The cell line was treated with two different concentrations; 1 and 10μg/ml of extracts. The extracts were prepared freshly by dissolving in sterile phosphate saline buffer (PBS) and the healing activity was observed from 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h. The bulb, root, stem and anther methanol extracts demonstrated active wound healing activities at 1 μg mL-1at 36 h of treatment. At the low concentration the bulb, root, stem and anther methanol extracts heals the wound compared to leaf and flower extracts. It's demonstrated that these extracts contain effective phytochemical substances which are responsible for wound healing process. This finding suggests the potential application of H. littoralis methanol extract in wound healing activity.