In vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of Ficus racemosa leaf and fruit extract on MCF7 human breast

Abstract

Humans are constantly exposed to high levels of radiation, which damages proteins, lipids, and DNA oxidatively and results in chromosomal mutations. As an illustration, oxidative stressors can cause diabetes, cancer, and even neurological and cardiovascular conditions. Nowadays, the majority of anticancer medications have a variety of adverse effects. As a result, current attention is being focused on studying plants in order to find the active ingredients that may be useful. Many medicinal plants contains the variable amounts of different phytochemicals such as saponins, triterpenoids, anthracyanins, alkaloids, phenols, flavanoids, resins, fatty acids and tannins. Many of these phytochemical agents have been found to possess anticancer activity. One of the biggest genera of medicinal plants, Ficus is mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas of the world and is used for a wide variety of different illnesses. It is well recognized that several plant components, including the bark, leaves, young shoots, fruits, seeds, and latex, have therapeutic use. The present study encompasses the ascertainment of in vitro antioxidant activity and anticancer activity of methanolic extract of Ficus racemosa leaf and fruit by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and MTT assay. From the results, F. racemosa has been found to have the significant antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner and IC50 value of leaf and fruit extract were 89 μg/ml and 92 μg/ ml for DPPH. Further, the cytotoxicity analysis was determined against MCF-7 (Human breast cancer) cell line. Methanolic leaf extract of Ficus racemosa showed the most cytotoxic activity at highest concentration (100μg/ml) with significant inhibition of cell growth. Hence, the study confirms that F. racemosa is enriched in phytochemicals which are the agents responsible for the natural antioxidant and anticancer property.