Cytotoxic active constituents of essential oils of curcuma longa and curcuma zanthorrhiza

Abstract

The polar and apolar fractions of Curcuma longa and C. zanthorriza enriched by ar-turmerone, ar-curcumene and xanthorrizol were screened for cytotoxic activity against the HeLa cell line. Actinomycin D and curcumin were used as reference samples, both known for their cytotoxic properties. Amongst all fractions tested, the xanthorrizol fraction (CC50: 26.11.9 M) showed the strongest cytotoxic properties similar to those of curcumin (CC50: 8.11.7 M). Further studies also revealed that the cytotoxic effects of the extracts and pure compounds are caused by apoptosis induction identified by the cleaved form of PARP protein.