Chemical Composition, Antioxidant and Anticancer Potential of Anchusa arvensis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the phytochemical composition, antioxidant characteristics and cytotoxic effects of Anchusa arvensis (A. arvensis) crude extract (Aa.Cr) and its subsequent fractions: n-hexane (Aa.Hex), chloroform (Aa.Chm) , Ethylacetate (Aa.Et), and Aqueous (Aa.Aq). The antioxidant potential was determined using the Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and azinobis [3-ethylbenzthiazoline]-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assays. The sulforhodamine-B assay demonstrated anticancer activity against the human cancer cell line NCI-H460. Alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, and tannins were found in Aa.Cr. The Aa.Chm fraction showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging activity(74.83 ± 1.36%1.36%)  at 1000 µg/mL concentration. The extract fractions Aa.Hex and Aa.Et demonstrated moderate activity, while Aa.Aq showed poor radical scavenging activity. The results show that the Aa. Hex has significant ABTS radical scavenging activity with IC₅₀.of 500μg/mL. Remarkable cytotoxicity was observed for chloroform (Aa.Chm) fraction with a growth inhibitory (GI₅₀₎ ) value of 31 ± 0.6 µg/mL followed by Aa.Hex growth inhibitory (GI₅₀₎ ) value of  (GI₅₀ 45 ± 5.7). The aqueous (Aa.Aq) and ethyl acetate (Aa.Et) fractions failed to display growth inhibitory effects against NCI-H460 cells. These findings indicate that Aa.Cr and its derived fractions possess antioxidant and anticancer effects.