A Note on the Biological Activity of Root Extracts from Pleiocarpa mutica Benth. (Apocynaceae)

Several organic solvent and aqueous extractives were prepared from dried roots of Pleiocarpa mutica Benth. obtained from the Belgium Congo. All aqueous fractions produced a drop in blood pressure when administered to laboratory rats. A moist ethyl acetate extract produced most significant hypotensive activity. Preliminary tests indicate the presence of alkaloids in the active extracts of this species, and that the activity blocks the effect of epinephrine but is not altered by atropine. The active acetate fraction also destroyed adult and larvae stages of the nematode, Panagrellus redivivus (L.) Goody when added to test cultures.