A comparison of the bioactivity of Dendrophthoe falcata on the hosts; Limonia acidissima and Mangifera indica

Dendrophthoe falcata (L.f.) Ettingsh is a hemiparasitic plant, used in Sri Lankan and Indian indigenous medicine to treat various diseases such as asthma, cancerous tumors, diabetes and wounds. Despite the hemiparasite on the host Limonia acidissima is used to treat various diseases, any bioactivity study of Dendrophthoe falcata grown on the particular host has not been conducted yet. This study aimed to investigate several bioactivities of the hemiparasite grown on Limonia acidissima (La) and compare with that grown on Mangifera indica (Mi). Sequential extracts by Soxhlet method from hexane (La-HE and Mi-HE), ethyl acetate (La-EAE and Mi-EAE) and methanol (La-ME and Mi-ME) were investigated for bioactivities. Antioxidant activity was determined using DPPH radical scavenging assay in which Mi-ME and Mi-EAE showed the highest activity, that is five times more than that of α-tocopherol. Brine shrimp lethality assay was conducted as a preliminary toxicity assay, where La-EAE showed the highest activity that is approximately four times that of K₂Cr₂O₇. The total polyphenolic content was determined by Folin-Ciocalteu method in which both methanol extracts showed the highest polyphenolic content of which Mi-ME was approximately four times more than that of La-ME. These results suggest that the bioactivity of the hemiparasite vary considerably with the host. Further, extracts of the hemiparasite on Limonia acidissima showing high antioxidant activity coupled with high toxicity justifies its applicability in indigenous medicine.