Drosophila melanogaster "A Potential Model Organism for Evaluating the Phytochemical Effects Of Medicinal Plants"

Ayurveda is one of the most prestigious traditional systems of drugs. It makes use of a mixture of herbs and medicinal plants to treat various diseases. Plants also carry a wide range of phytochemicals such as phenolics, alkaloids, and saponins that may cause harmful health effects. The phytochemical effect of two medicinal plants Vinca rosea and Withania somnifera was studied on model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Withania was extracted using MASE method and Vinca was extracted in water. Drosophila reared on Vinca rosea and W. somnifera diets and compared with the control diet reared flies. Behavioral assays of adult and larvae at Stage 3 were performed to study the effect of these extracts which included courtship, survivorship, crawling, and climbing behavior. The developmental toxicity assay was also conducted to evaluate the effect of extracts on the total life span of Drosophila. Withania root extract and Vinca leaf extract supplementation leads to the developmental delay and several phenotypic anomalies in D. melanogaster. . KEYWORDS :Drosophila melanogaster, MASE method and behavioral assays, phytochemical effect, Vinca rosea, Withania somnifera