Ficus carica, Ficus sycomorus and Euphorbia tirucalli latex extracts: Phytochemical screening, antioxidant and cytotoxic properties

Abstract

Abstract Medicinal plants are important sources for discovering new drugs for many diseases. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, phytochemical compounds, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of some medicinal plants: Ficus carica (FCE), Ficus sycomorus (FSE) and Euphorbia tirucalli (ETE) latex extracts. A significant amount of phenolics and flavonoids was recorded in the FCE, FSE and ETE of 50.2, 88.0, 10.5 mg GAE/g latex and 12.5, 34.0, 4.3 mg CE/g latex, respectively. The phenolic content of FCE, FSE and ETE were effective in scavenging free radicals of DPPH and ABTS with IC 50 values of 13.6, 7.0, 6.0 and 4.5, 6.4, 2.0 μg GAE/ml, respectively. The total antioxidant activity, using phosphomolybdenum assay, of FCE, FSE and ETE was also measured with EC 50 values of 39, 25 and 6.5 μg GAE/ml, respectively. Various phytochemical compounds with potential therapeutic values were detected in each FCE, FSE and ETE latex extract using GC-MS analysis. Most of identified phytochemical compounds are found for first time in figs or euphorbia latex extracts. Various phenolic acids and flavonoids were identified and quantified in the FCE, FSE, and ETE latex extracts with diverse therapeutic properties using HPLC analysis. The phenolic content of ETE, FCE, and FSE latex extracts exerted a potent cytotoxic effect near to doxorubicin, a common anticancer drug, against acute myeloid leukemia HL-60, breast MCF-7 and liver HepG2 cancer cell lines, respectively. Additionally, all the tested extracts didn't exert any toxicity against human normal melanocyte HFB4 cell line with concentrations up to100 μg/ml. In conclusion, the phenolic content of FCE, FSE and ETE latex extracts could be used as therapeutic agents for fighting cancer.