COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF ALPINIA CALCARATA AND ALPINIA GALANGA

Abstract

Objective: The present study was to determine in vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of Alpinia calcarata and Alpinia galanga.Methods: The phytochemical screening of rhizome of aqueous extract of Alpinia calcarata and Alpinia galanga was performed using standard procedures. The total phenolic and flavanoid content were determined by Folin-Ciocalteau and Aluminium chloride reagents.  The various antioxidant assays and cytotoxic assays (MTT) for Alpinia calcarata and Alpinia galanga was performed using standard methods (DPPH radical scavenging assay, Nitric oxide radical scavenging assay, Reducing power assay, Phosphomolybdenum reduction assay) Results: The preliminary phytochemical screening of Alpinia calcarata and Alpinia galanga showed the presence of flavanoids, phenols, terpenoids, carbohydrates and proteins. The phenolic content of aqueous extracts of rhizomes of Alpinia calcarata was 454.05 μg/mg and Alpinia galanga was 480.13 μg/mg and were expressed as gallic acid equivalent. The flavanoid content of aqueous extracts of rhizomes of Alpinia calcarata was 36.34 μg/mg and Alpinia galanga was 67.68 μg/mg and were expressed as quercetin equivalent. In DPPH assay, Alpinia galanga showed 95.36% where as Alpinia calcarata showed 54.54% at 120 μg/ml. The maximum NO• radical scavenging activity was 59.44% for Alpinia calcarata and was 73.10% for Alpinia galanga at 120 µg/ml concentration. The maximum reducing property was found at the 120 μg/ml of aqueous extract of rhizomes of Alpinia galanga which was higher than the Alpinia calcarata. In Phosphomolybdenum assay, the aqueous extracts of rhizomes of Alpinia calcarata and Alpinia galanga were 55.47% and 78.38% respectively. The results of present investigation indicated that rhizome of aqueous extract of Alpinia galanga showed the highest antioxidant activity in all the assays than Alpinia galanga. The cytotoxicity assay results indicated that rhizome of aqueous extract of Alpinia galanga showed 88.36% cell viability whereas Alpinia calcarata showed 73.59% cell viability.Conclusion: The results obtained in the present study indicate that rhizome of Alpinia galanga are abundant in phenols and flavanoids which may be useful for the development of anticancer drug.