Phytother Res. 2002 Mar; 16(2): 197-8.

Brine shrimp lethality assay of Bacopa monnieri.

D'Souza P, Deepak M, Rani P, Kadamboor S, Mathew A, Chandrashekar AP, Agarwal A.

Bioassay Unit, M/s Natural Remedies Pvt Ltd, 5B Veerasandra Indl Area, Hosur Road, Bangalore 561 229, India.

Successive petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and water extracts, a saponin rich fraction (SRF) and bacoside A isolated from Bacopa monnieri were tested for brine shrimp lethality. Successive ethanol extracts and SRF showed potent activity. Bacoside A showed the maximum activity with a LC(50) of 38.3 microg/mL. The results confirmed the previous reports of an anticancer effect of Bacopa monnieri and suggest bacoside A as the active constituent.Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.