Moringa oleifera leaves extracted with methanol and dichloromethane were screened for antioxidant activity. The in vitro cancer antiproliferative and chemopreventive properties were also investigated. Radical scavenging assays with 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2 , 2 azino - bis 3- ethylbenzothiazoline- 6- sulfonic acid (ABTS) were used to determine the antioxidant activity . The antiproliferative assay was evaluated on three types of cancer cell lines : hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) , colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco - 2) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF - 7) , using 3 - (4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl) - 2 , 5 - diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay . The in vitro cancer chemoprevention was performed using quinone reductase (QR) induction assay on hepatoma (Hepa - 1c1c7) . The chemopreventive activity of the extracts was expressed as concentration to double QR activity (CD value) . The methanol extract showed higher free radical scavenging activity than the dichloromethane extract (IC 50 = 1 . 60±0 . 03 mg / ml in DPPH assay and IC 50 = 1 . 02±0 . 06 mg / ml in ABTS assay) . In the antiproliferative assay , the IC 50 of dichloromethane extract varied from 112 to 133 µg / ml for HepG2 , Caco - 2 and MCF - 7 cancer cells , but became more than 250 µg / ml for the methanol extract . In the chemopreventive assay , the dichloromethane extract had capacity to induce QR activity significantly (CD value = 91 . 36±1 . 26 μg / ml) , while the methanol extract had no inductive effect . This study provides evidence that M . oleifera leaves possess antioxidant activity , as well as cytotoxic and chemopreventive properties . Therefore , it might be beneficial as a medicinal plant for alternative novel anticancer drugs and nutraceutical products .
CITATION STYLE
Suphachai, C. (2014). Antioxidant and anticancer activities of Moringa oleifera leaves. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, 8(7), 318–325. https://doi.org/10.5897/jmpr2013.5353
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