Abstract

Phenolic compounds and other phytochemicals are significant resources for drug discovery and development. Plant‐derived natural products have contributed in preventing and managing oxidative stress, and in cancer therapeutics. Recent reports indicate that 83% of new anti‐cancer agents are of natural product origin. The aim of this study was to assess the content and properties of bioactive phytochemicals in water, ethanol, methanol, acetone, and dichloromethane extracts of Prunus africana, Pausinystalia yohimbe, Moringa oleifera, Momordica charantia and Orthero spp, and test their therapeutic effect on a wide range of diseases. In the first part of the study, the content of total polyphenols (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), carotenoid, anthocyanin, and antioxidant properties of the extracts of the different plant parts of these five plants were measured using the Folin‐Ciocalteu, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and 2,2′‐Azino‐bis(3‐ ethylbenzthiazoline‐6‐sulfonic acid) radical scavenging (ABTS) assays. For most samples, extraction yields were highest when either ethanol or methanol were used as extraction solvent. The FRAP values were in the range of 6.04 – 112.00 μM Fe2+/g, while the highest TPC and TFC were seen in the methanol extract of P. africana bark from Cameroon (1397.33 mg GAE/g) and acetone extract of M. charantia leaf (217.33 mg RU/g), respectively. The concentration required to obtain a 50% antioxidant effect (EC50) for the acetone and methanol extracts of P. africana bark (Cameroon), methanol and ethanol extracts of P. yohimbe leaf and the methanol extract of P. yohimbe root were comparable to that of ascorbic acid. Seven phenolic acids were identified in the extracts of P. africana and P. yohimbe using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The most abundant phenolic acids were; vanillic acid (116.41 mg/g dry extract in P. yohimbe leaf methanol extract) and trans‐sinapic acid (102.22 mg/g dry extract in P. africana bark water extract). This study shows that these plants parts are valuable sources of natural polyphenols and antioxidants and their individual and/ synergistic effect may modulate cellular and signaling events involved in growth and invasion of cancer cells.Support or Funding InformationUSDA‐NIFADelaware State UniversityThis abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

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