Phytochemical Analysis and Biological Assay of the Methanolic Leaf Extract of Cadabafarinosa Forsk (Capparidaceae)

Cadabafarinosafarsk (Capparidaceae) is a plant commonly found in arid zones all over the globe and it is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of skin and breast cancer in North-Eastern Nigeria. Ethnobotanical survey asserts that root of the plant has been used in cancer treatment. Methanolic leaf extract showed moderate but inconsistent antioxidant property on2, 2- diphenyl- 1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical. The same extract however, showed significant cytotoxicity on Brine shrimp larvae, nauplii as it gave percentage mortality above 50% for most of the concentrations which ranged from 10 µg/ml to 1000 µg/ml. Plants with cytotoxic and antioxidant properties have been found to contain anticancer or antitumour compounds.