Evaluation and Comparison of the Toxicity of Some Iranian Native Plants and Microalgae; Using Brine Shrimp Test (BST)

Abstract

Brine shrimp lethality test is a useful and appropriate method for toxicity identification of compounds in plants. As well as this, Artemia spp. are among the most worldwide salt water organisms that can be used in this kind of experiments. Many plants are being used for treatment of variable diseases and have many applications in pharmaceuticals and medicine. However some of them have toxic components that limit their use and can create some risks for consumers. This study investigated the toxicity of two kinds of microalgae and three kinds of plants against larvae of Artemia urmiana (A. urmiana). This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity degree of active metabolites in some plants and microalgae against A. urmiana nauplii as a standard toxicity evaluating method. After 48 h of incubation, newly hatched Artemia nauplii were exposed to different concentrations of herbal extracts. Brine shrimp lethality test was used for investigation of samples toxicity in different doses between 100 to1000 μg /ml in time intervals. Results showed that these herbal extracts have high potential larvicidal properties on A. urmiana. Ephedra Intermedia had the maximum and Dunaliella Salina had the minimum effects on mortality respectively. Achieved results indicated that there were straight correlation between dose of extracts and mortality of brine shrimp nauplii. The extracts potency of toxicity was as follows: E. intermedia > C. procera >O. persica > C. vulgaris > D. salina.

Keywords

• brine shrimp
• lethality assay
• toxicity test
• artemia salina