Pharmacological screening of six Amaryllidaceae species.

Dichloromethane and 90% methanol extracts of different parts of 6 Amaryllidaceae species were investigated for anti-inflammatory (COX-1 and COX-2), antibacterial and mutagenic (Salmonella/microsome test strain TA98) activities. Antibacterial activity was carried out using disc diffusion assay against three Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Microccus luteus) and two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacteria. With the exception of the leaf of Cyrtanthus mackenii, all CH(2)Cl(2) extracts of different parts of Cyrtanthus species inhibited the growth of at least one bacterium, with the CH(2)Cl(2) bulb/root extracts of Cyrtanthus suaveolens showing broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. In the anti-inflammatory assay, CH(2)Cl(2) extracts, resuspended at 500 microg/ml, from different parts of all species under investigation, inhibited activity of both COX-1 and COX-2 by at least 70%. The most active, 90% methanolic extracts (resuspended at 500 microg/ml) were from the leaves (78%) and roots (76%) of Cyrtanthus falcatus and the leaves of Gethyllis ciliaris (70%). Only CH(2)Cl(2) extracts of Cyrtanthus falcatus (leaf and root) and Cyrtanthus suaveolens (bulb/root and leaf) had a mutagenic effect in the Salmonella/microsome assay strain TA98.