Determination of the Bioavailability of Arum maculatum L. Plant Extracts in Caenorhabditis elegans Culture

Plants are used by humans not only as food, but also for therapeutic purposes in medicine, as fuel and coloring matter. Plants, which are among the natural products consumed as traditional medicines, are used in the treatment of many diseases. Nowadays, many plants are widely used as nutritional supplements to strengthen the immune system or as an auxiliary nutritional supplement with other drugs in the treatment of chronic diseases. The plant Arum maculatum L. examined in this study is an angiosperm and monocotyledonous plant belonging to the family Araceae and a species in the order Arales. In this study it is aimed to study the bioavailability of Arum plant by using C. elegans nematode as a model organism. This study, the effects of the extract obtained by ethyl alcohol and water phase extraction of A. maculatum L., which is collected in spring and summer months and consumed by cooking fresh leaves and believed to be a source of healing, on the life span, egg production and growth-development parameters of Caenorhabditis elegans nematode were investigated. The data obtained were evaluated by SPSS program. Significant differences were found in C. elegans cultures of the extracts obtained from the leaves and flower parts of the plant in ethyl alcohol and water solvents compared to the control group. It was observed that the survival rates of C. elegans nematodes generally increased with the application of different doses of plant water extracts. This research will provide a reference for further research on the mechanism of Arum plants in the treatment of some diseases. Our research shows that this plant may have the potential therapeutic target about fertilization and growth and development process.