Pharmacological activities of some Argyranthemum species growing in the Canary Islands.

Methanolic extracts of eight subspecies of genus Argyranthemum were evaluated against brine shrimps, human cancer cell lines, malarial parasites and microorganisms under in vitro conditions. In the shrimp assay, samples of A. adauctum ssp. adauctum, A. adauctum ssp. erythrocarpon and A. frutetescens ssp. succulentum were active with ED50 values in the range of around 300 to 360 microg/ml. In the Caco-2, HepG2 and MCF-7 cell lines, the samples A. adauctum ssp. jacobaeifolium and A. adauctum ssp. palmensis were active with LC50 values ranging between 80-90 microg/ml. The secondary assay results of antimalarial activity of samples, A. adauctum ssp. adauctum, A. adauctum ssp. dugourii, A. adauctum ssp. erythrocarpon and A. adauctum ssp. jacobaeifolium have IC50 values <50 microg/ml. The samples demonstrated broad specific antimicrobial activity against five different microorganisms.