Abstract
BackgroundThe edible fruits of Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl are widely used in traditional medicine in Indonesia. It is used to treat a variety of medical conditions such as - cancer, diabetes mellitus, allergies, liver and heart diseases, kidney failure, blood diseases, high blood pressure, stroke, various skin diseases, itching, aches, and flu. Therefore, it is of great interest to determine the biochemical and cytotoxic properties of the fruit extracts.MethodsThe methanol, hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and water extracts of P. macrocarpa fruits were examined for phytochemicals, physicochemicals, flavonols, flavonoids and phenol content. Its nutritional value (A.O.A.C method), antioxidant properties (DPPH assay) and cytotoxicity (MTT cell proliferation assay) were also determined.ResultsA preliminary phyotochemical screening of the different crude extracts from the fruits of P. macrocarpa showed the presence secondary metabolites such as of flavonoids, phenols, saponin glycosides and tannins. The ethyl acetate and methanol extracts displayed high antioxidant acitivity (IC50 value of 8.15±0.02 ug/mL) in the DPPH assay comparable to that of the standard gallic acid (IC50 value of 10.8±0.02 ug/mL). Evaluation of cytotoxic activity showed that the crude methanol extract possessed excellent anti-proliferative activity against SKOV-3 (IC50 7.75±2.56 μg/mL) after 72 hours of treatment whilst the hexane and ethyl acetate extracts displayed good cytotoxic effect against both SKOV-3 and MDA-MB231 cell lines. The chloroform extract however, showed selective inhibitory activity in the breast cancer cell line MDA-MB231 (IC50 7.80±1.57 μg/mL) after 48 hours of treatment. There was no cytotoxic effect observed in the Ca Ski cell line and the two normal cell lines (MRC-5 and WRL-68).ConclusionThe methanol extract and the ethyl acetate fraction of P. macrocarpa fruits exhibited good nutritional values, good antioxidant and cytotoxic activities, and merits further investigation to identify the specific compound(s) responsible for these activities.
Highlights
The edible fruits of Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl are widely used in traditional medicine in Indonesia
Based on preliminary phytochemical studies, the results revealed that the chemical components of P. macrocarpa fruit contained large amounts of flavonoids, phenolics, steroids, tannins, terpenoids, glucosides, and saponins
Our results showed that phenolic compounds were present at the highest percentage in the methanol extract, followed by ethyl acetate, water, chloroform and hexane fractions
Summary
The edible fruits of Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff.) Boerl are widely used in traditional medicine in Indonesia. They are most abundant in tropical regions. Classifying medicinal plants systematically is important in order to understand and study them extensively and efficiently. The Phaleria macrocarpa (Scheff ) Boerl plant The major components of P. marcrocapa fruits are flavonoids. It contains alkaloids, saponins, tannins, and terpenoids. The n-hexane extract of P. macrocarpa fruits’ flesh contains terpenoids, whereas the ethanol extract of P. macrocarpa flesh and seed fruit is composed of alkaloids, flavanoids, and triterpenoids [1]. It has been shown that the P. macrocarpa fruits’ flesh ethyl acetate extract contained flavonoids, triterpenoids and coumarin groups [2]
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