Norhayati Ahmad
Universiti of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam
Title: Evaluation of antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of several medicinal plants in Brunei Darussalam
Biography
Biography: Norhayati Ahmad
Abstract
In the current study, the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of six plant species; Litsea elliptica Blume, Dillenia suffroticosa (Griff.) Mart, Dillenia excelsa, Aidia racemosa (Cav.) Tirveng., Vitex pinnata L., and Senna alata (L.)Roxb found in Brunei Darussalam were evaluated. The crude methanol, ethanol and aqueous extracts of the leaves of these plants plus the roots and bark of D. excelsa were evaluated for their total-phenolic-content (TPC), total-flavonoid-content (TFC) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical-scavenging activity. A majority of the methanol extracts produced the highest TPCs and DPPH radical scavenging activities while majority of ethanol extracts showed highest TFCs. L. elliptica, D. suffroticosa, D. excelsa and A. racemosa extracts showed the overall highest TPCs and radical-scavenging activities, while L. elliptica, S. alata, D. suffroticosa and A. racemosa extracts showed the overall highest TFCs. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays were carried out on A549 (lung carcinoma) and CaSki (cervical carcinoma) cell lines. It was found that L. elliptica was the most cytotoxic against A549 cells followed by D. suffroticosa. For CaSki cells, A. racemosa was found to be the least cytotoxic while L. elliptica remained as the most cytotoxic followed by D. suffroticosa. Our findings have indicated that the extracts from the leaves of L. elliptica, D. suffroticosa, D. excelsa and A. racemosa showed antioxidant and anti-cancer properties against A549 and CaSki cells.
