Evaluation of cytotoxicity of Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Curcuma longa L. and Ocimum sanctum L. in BHK-21 cell line

Curcuma longa L. (Turmeric), Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Neem) and different varieties of Ocimum spp. (Tulsi) have demonstrated their antiviral activity against different viruses. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the hydroethanolic plant extract of A. indica, C. longa and O. sanctum in Baby Hamster Kidney cell line (BHK-21 cell line). Hydroethanolic extract (70:30) was prepared from dried and grinded tuber of C. longa, leaves of A. indica and O. sanctum. Cytotoxicity effect of plant extracts and nanoparticles were conducted by dye exclusion method using trypan blue. The CC50 was analyzed from liner regression equation of the per cent viable cell within the concentration range of 1.95-1000 mu g/ml. The average 50% cell cytotoxicity (CC50) of the hydroethanolic extract of A. indica (208.10 +/- 1.9 mu g/ml) and O. sanctum (383.08 +/- 1.14 mu g/ml) showed lower cytotoxicity in BHK-21 cells in comparison to C. longa extract (85.14 +/- 1.00 mu g/ml) which reveals A. indica and O. sanctum are less cytotoxic to BHK-21 cell line compare to C. longa.