Free radicals scavenging and antiproliferative activity of ethanolic and methanolic extracts of Carica papaya leaves in PA-1 cell line

Abstract

A comparative antioxidant and anticancer potential of methanolic and ethanolic extracts of leaves of Carica papaya were investigated. Both the plant extracts were prepared separately, and their antioxidant scavenging potential was investigated for the scavenging of superoxide, nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide radicals using standard protocols. The anticancer property of these plant extracts was evaluated in PA-1 cell lines using tryptan blue assay. The total phenols and flavonoids contents responsible for the above said activities were estimated quantitatively. Among the two extracts, the ethanolic extract scavenged the free radicals to a greater extent when com- pared to the methanolic extract. Similarly, in the tryptan blue exclusion as- say, the percentage of cell death was more for ethanolic extract. At high concentrations such as 50, 75 and 100 μg concentrations, the ethanolic ex- tract showed higher cell death which was comparable to the positive drug doxrubicidin used in the present study. Both the extracts possessed considerable quantities of phenols and flavonoids. It may be concluded that the presence phytochemicals along with the phenols and flavonoids may be the reason for the antioxidant and anticancer activity observed in the present study.