In vitro Antimalarial Activity of 11 Terpenes Isolated from Ocimum gratissimum and Cassia alata Leaves. Screening of Their Binding Affinity with Haemin

Abstract

Eleven terpenes extracted from Cassia alata and Ocimum gratissimum leaves were screened for in vitro antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum and for their binding affinity with haemin in ethylene Glycol-water 3:7 solvent. Nine terpenes have promising antimalarial activity with IC50 values below 1µg/ml; two terpenes showed a good activity with IC50 values below 4µg/ml. All the terpenes bind strongly with haemin as shown by variation of absorbance of the haemin at λ 600nm in UV-Visible spectrum.