Phytochemicals of Salacia oblonga responsible for free radical scavenging and antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231)

Salacia oblonga, an inhabitant of tropical regions has been used in traditional Indian medicinal systems. Phytochemicals were extracted in methanol from the plant and analyzed for various biological activities. The results of biochemical tests for total phenolics (297 +/- A 0.005 and 275 +/- A 0.006) and flavonoids (95 +/- A 0.004 and 61.6 +/- A 0.004) in the aerial and root parts were indicated as Gallic acid and quercetin equivalents respectively. The Aerial and root extracts showed strong reducing ability based on reducing power and FRAP assays. The extracts exhibited significant IC50 values in DPPH, super oxide and nitric oxide radical scavenging assays. The extracts displayed low IC50 values (< 50 mu g/ml) when assessed for antiproliferative activity against breast cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. GC-MS analysis of methanolic extracts have revealed the presence of compounds viz. n-Hexadecanoic acid, N-Methoxy-N-methylacetamide, Ursa-9(11), 12-dien-3-ol, Gamma-sitosterol etc., that might be potential candidates for the biological activity exhibited by the extract.