Purpose:
To investigate the phytochemistry and cytotoxic activity of stem bark extracts from
Genus dolichocarpa
and
Duguetia chrysocarpa
- two species of the Annonaceae family.
Methods:
The crude ethanol bark extracts (EtOH) of the plants were obtained by maceration. The
crude extracts were suspended in a mixture of methanol (MeOH) and water (H
2O) (proportion 3:7 v/v)
and partitioned with hexane, chloroform (CHCl
3) and ethyl acetate (AcOEt) in ascending order of
polarity to obtain the respective fractions. The extracts were evaluated on thin layer chromatography
(TLC) plates of silica gel to highlight the main groups of secondary metabolites. Cytotoxicity was tested
against human tumor cell lines - OVCAR-8 (ovarian), SF-295 (brain) and HCT-116 (colon) - using 3-
(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay.
Results:
The screening results demonstrated that all the extracts were positive for the presence of
flavonoids and tannins. The presence of alkaloids also was detected in some extracts. The hexane
extract of A. dolichocarpa showed the strongest cytotoxicity against HCT-116 with cell growth inhibition
of 89.02 %.
Conclusion:
The findings demonstrate for the first time the cytotoxic activity of the extracts of A.
dolichocarpa and D. chrysocarpa, thus providing some evidence that plants of the Annonaceae family
are a source of active secondary metabolites with cytotoxic activity.
