Phytochemicals, Antioxidant and Anticancer Properties of Camellia japonica L. Mistletoe Extracts

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the phytochemical profiles, in vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative properties of methanol and 70% ethanol extracts of Camellia japonica L. mistletoe. Both extracts were analyzed for contents of total flavonoid, total carotenoid and L-ascorbic acid, and antioxidant properties such as scavenging capacities (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl, O2- and NO•), ferrous ion chelating and reducing power. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to assess the antiproliferative properties against human cancer cell lines; MCF (human breast cancer cells), Hela (human cervical cancer cells), A375 (human malignant melanoma cells), HCT116 (human colon cancer cells), HepG2 (human liver cancer cells) and A549 (human non-small cell lung adenocar-cinoma cells). The results showed that the methanol extracts of Camellia japonica L. mistletoe contained higher total flavonoids (16.237 g rutin equivalents/100 g) and carotenoids (49.175 g/100 g) with higher DPPH (SC50 = 0.6 mg/mL), superoxide (SC50 = 0.6 mg/mL), nitric oxide (SC50 = 0.5 mg/mL) radical scavenging and reducing power (IC50 = 1.1 mg/mL) activities than those of ethanol extracts (p < 0.05). In addition, methanol extracts showed much higher antiproliferative activity against human malignant melanoma A375 (IC50 = 118.1 μg/mL) and human colon cancer HCT116 (IC50 = 148.4 μg/mL) cells than ethanol extracts whereas higher inhibitory effects of human breast cancer MCF7 (IC50 = 139.9 μg/mL), human cervical cancer Hela (IC50 = 127.1 μg/mL) and human liver cancer HepG2 (IC50 = 84.2 μg/mL) cell proliferation in the ethanol extracts of Camellia japonica L. mistletoe. The results demonstrated the potential use of Camellia japonica L. mistletoe as a good antioxi-dant and anticancer effect.