Comparative Cytotoxic Activity of Wild Harvested Stems and Raised Protocorms of Rolfe in Human Cervical Carcinoma and Glioblastoma Cell Lines.

From the medicinal orchid Rolfe, which is used in traditional and folk Chinese medicine, the protocorms were raised in Murashige and Skoog (MS) media in three strengths, full strength (FMS), half strength (1/2 MS), and quarter strength (1/4 MS), with or without the phytohormones 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and coconut water (CW). The comparative cytotoxic activities of the wild and -raised protocorms were evaluated in human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and human glioblastoma (U251) cell lines by MTT assay. In and , the methanol extracts of showed significant cytotoxic activities.

Cytotoxic effect of selected wild orchids on two different human cancer cell lines.

Majority of the orchid species are used in the traditional medicines for the treatment of several diseases. They are the sources of polysaccharides, phenanthrenes, bibenzyl derivatives, revesteral, stilbenoids and polyphenol compounds. This study explored the cytotoxic activity of seven wild orchid species and identification of medicinally active compounds.