Cytotoxicity of Ethanolic Extract of Papaya Leaves (Carica papaya) and its Fractions on T47D Cells

Abstract

Breast cancer is a cancer leading cause of high mortality rate in women. Plants produces secondary metabolites with a wide range of activity which one of the activity is anticancer. This research was conducted to investigate the cytotoxic activity of ethanolic extract of papaya leaves (Carica papaya) and its fractions on a breast cancer cell line (T47D). Extraction of the natural compounds from papaya leaves was carried out by maceration method using 96% ethanol. Fractionation of the extract was done by partition method using water, hexane and ethyl acetate to afford hexane, ethyl acetate and water fractions. The cytotoxicity of the extract and the fractions was tested using MTT assay. Chemical compounds in the ethyl acetate fraction was identified using thin layer chromatography method with silica gel GF 254 as the stationary phase and mixture of hexane and acetone with ratio of 6:4 as the mobile phase. The MTT assay results show that the extract, hexane, and water fraction with concentration of 800 mg/mL do not inhibit the growth of T47D cells whereas the growth of the cells was inhibited by the ethyl acetate fraction with IC50 value of 557.32 mg/mL. The ethyl acetate fraction contains flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolics, and terpenoids. The ethanolic extract of papaya leaves and the fractions has no potential cytotoxicity on T47D cells.