Toxicity in artemia salina by hydroalcoholic extracts of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous varieties of medicinal plants from the Peruvian Amazon

Medicinal plants have been used since ancient times, acquiring broad interest in their healing properties due to their active compounds. The Peruvian Amazon rainforest has a great variety of flora, such as monocots (Dracontium loretense Krause and Commelina diffusa) and dicotyledons (Dysphania ambrosioides, Malva sylvestris, Origanum vulgare, Bixa orellana, Pinus edulis, Jatropha curcas L, and Brunfelsia). The study aimed to evaluate the toxicity in saline artemia by hydroalcoholic extracts of leaves of medicinal plants of the Peruvian Amazon. A phytochemical analysis of the leaves of the medicinal plants was performed to identify their active components. For the hydroalcoholic extraction, 300 g of leaves were used and dried extracts were obtained at concentrations of 10, 100 and 1000 μL/mL. The toxicity of the extract of each plant species in 10 larvae of Artemia was evaluated by triplicate tests. It was observed that chemical compounds such as steroids, triterpenes, quinones, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, lactones, alkaloids, reducing sugars, tannins and saponins, are the causes of toxicity in artemia salina, showing that the higher the concentration of the extract, the higher the index of mortality.