ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF EXTRACT AND FRACTIONS OBTAINED FROM DIOSPYROS MELANOXYLON ROXB. LEAVES AND CORRELATION WITH THEIR POLYPHENOLIC PROFILES

Objective: The current study evaluates the antioxidant and cytotoxic prospective of the leaves from Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb. (D. melanoxylon).Methods: Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the samples from D. melanoxylon was carried out for the detection of secondary metabolites. Total content of flavonoids, phenolics, triterpenoids, and tannins in D. melanoxylon was evaluated using colorimetric assay. Qualitative analysis of polyphenolic compounds was performed using HPLC method. The antioxidant activity was examined by assessing the various free radical scavenging assays. Five human cancerous cell lines (HeLa, MCF-7, HCT-116, PC-3, and HEK293), one rat colon cancer cell line (RCC 45) and two normal cell lines (NKE and WI-38) were used for evaluating the anticancer activity through methylene blue assay.Results: The results indicated that ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) and aqueous fraction (AQF) exhibited the remarkable content of flavonoids, phenolics, triterpenoids, and tannins. Both EAF and AQF have cytotoxic activity with significant IC50 values but not showed significant antioxidant activity. However, the most powerful anticancer activity was recorded by EAF followed by AQF in a dose-dependent manner. It was also revealed that EAF and AQF were biocompatible with the normal cell lines.Conclusion: Our principal finding exhibited a potent anticancer activity. Furthermore, it was also indicated that samples contain secondary metabolites like flavonoids, phenolics, triterpenoids, and tannins. We suggest that the further investigation on this herb is effective against various types of ailments including cancer.Keywords: Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb., Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Polyphenols, Antioxidant, Anticance