Comparative Analysis of in Vitro Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activity of Unripe and Ripe Fruits of <em>Solanum sisymbriifolium</em>

Abstract

Solanum sisymbriifolium Lam. (Solanaceae), commonly referred to as Kantikari (Bengali), sticky nightshade, or litchi tomato. Despite, the traditional use of this plant for several ailments, very little is known about the phytochemical and pharmacological content of the edible ripe berries of this medicinal plant. Ethanol and petroleum ether extract of the ripe and unripe fruits of Solanum sisymbriifolium were examined by using standard analytical methods to determine and compare their bioactive chemical constituents, total phenolic content, antioxidant, and cytotoxic potential. Quantitative phytochemical screening showed that the presence of medicinally active secondary metabolites like alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponins were detected in both ripe and unripe fruits. Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content were found to be more pronounced in ripe fruit extract, whereas unripe fruit extracts showed moderate cytotoxic activity. DPPH free radical scavenging method demonstrated that IC50 value of ethanol and petroleum ether extract of ripe fruits were 194.40μg/ml and 436μg/ml, and for unripe fruit the values were 689.82μg/ml and 1411.23μg/ml. In brine shrimp lethality bioassay, the LC50 value of unripe fruits was 230.6559μg/ml for ethanol extract and 314.9227μg/ml for petroleum ether extract. The LC50 value of the ethanol extract of ripe fruits was 456.1021μg/ml and for petroleum ether extract was 1,017.6848μg/ml. The results of this study showed that the litchi tomato not only has the potential to be a rich source of an edible compound due to the presence of profound phytochemical constituents but also can be used as a source of pharmacological references.