Phytochemical Screening and Cytotoxic Activities of Methanolic Extracts of Physalis peruviana Studied on Normal and Cancerous Mammalian Cell lines

In modern era plants are widely used in pharmaceutical industry as sources of raw materials and essential ingredients for medicine. Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide with high percentage of deaths occurring in developing countries. In Kenya, new cancer cases have been witnessed all over the country. The attention on diseases like malaria, HIV and tuberculosis has resulted in the neglect of diseases like cancer. This is caused by lack of awareness, non-qualified personnel, inadequate facilities and financial shortages. In Kenya, majority of the population relies on traditional medicine as an alternative treatment since the conventional health system provides for only 30% of the population. Although medicinal plants in Kenya have been used for treatment of cancer by the traditional healers, no studies have been carried out to verify their healing claims. This study focused on the analytical methodologies, which included the extraction of crude extract from Physalis peruviana using methanol, dichloromethane petroleum ether, water and hexane. It also included the phytochemical screening assay through the TLC method and was observed under UV lamb and the in vitro cytotoxicity activity of Physalis peruviana on normal and cancerous mammalian cell lines. The in vitro assays involved determination of the cytotoxic concentration levels (CC50) of the plant extracts on cancer cell lines as well as calculating the inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the plant extracts on cancer cell lines. The biochemical responses of cells after exposure with organic plant extract was observed using the MTT dye {3-(4,5-dimethylthiozol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide}. Physalis peruviana extract was expected to have a cytotoxicity effect on selected cell lines.