Phytochemical Analysis, In vitro Assessment of Antioxidant Properties and Cytotoxic Potential of Ruta chalepensis L. Essential Oil

Abstract

: Ruta chalepensis L. (Rutaceae) is an aromatic herb used in traditional medicine in Jordan and many countries. The main aims of this study are to isolate and identify the components of the essential oil from the aerial parts of R. chalepensis. Determination of the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, in addition to the in vitro assessment of antioxidant capacity as well as the cytotoxic effect of the essential oil extract on human MCF-7, T47D and Caco-2 cancer cell lines. The oil extract was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spec- trometry (GC-MS). The major components of the essential oil were 2-cyclohexen-1-one,3-[(2,3,4,9 tetrahydro 1H pyrido[3,4 b]indole-1-yl) methyl]- (45.97 %) and 2-Nonanone (19.45 %). The total phenolic was 5.00 ± 0.005 mg gallic acid equivalent/ g of oil extract, while the total flavonoid content was 34.09 ± 0.140 mg quercetin equivalent/ g oil. The antioxidant properties were screened using DPPH radical scavenging assay (IC50 was 35.27 μg/ml) and the reducing power ability (EC50 was 20110 μg/ml). The cytotoxic activity was assessed using the MTT assay. The cytotoxicity of oil extract in all tested cell lines was in a dose-dependent manner. The calculated IC50 values of the oil extract against MCF-7, T47D and Caco-2 (79.32±0.948 μg/ml, 97.23±0.57 μg/ml, 107.72±1.85 μg/ml), respectively. Furthermore, there was no significant inhibitory effect of the oil extract on the normal human fibro-blast cell line (MRC-5). This study demonstrated that R. chalepensis essential oil possesses antioxidant activity and could be considered as a potential source of the anticancer compound.