Abstract

To explore the naturally-occurring antioxidants having anticancer properties from plant origin since oxidants play a crucial role in developing various human diseases. The purpose of this research was to explore the antioxidant and anticancer properties of Sapindus trifoliatus (ST). The dried leaves of S. trifoliatus were ground into coarse powder and were exhaustively extracted with methanol; and the resulting crude methanolic extract (CME) was successively fractionated with petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate to obtain final extracts of petroleum ether (PEF), chloroform (CHF), ethyl acetate (EAF) and lastly the fractions of aqueous (AQF). Several assays were employed to determine the antioxidant activities, such as, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay, total antioxidant capacity assay, ferrous reducing antioxidant capacity, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and lipid peroxidation inhibition assay. The in vivo anticancer activity of S. trifoliatus was deduced on Ehrlich’s Ascites cell (EAC) induced Swiss albino mice. Majority of the extracts showed strong antioxidant activities related to the standard.

Key words: Sapindus trifoliatus, Sapindaceae, free radicals, polyphenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, anticancer activity.

Abbreviation

AA, Ascorbic acid; AQF, aqueous fraction; CAE, catechin equivalent; CHF, chloroform fraction; CME, crude me-thanolic extract; DPPH, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazine; EAC, Ehrlich’s Ascites cells; EAF, ethyl acetate fraction; GA, gallic acid; GAE, gallic acid equivalent; OS, oxidative stress; PEF, petroleum ether fraction; QE, quercetin equivalent; ROS, reactive oxygen species; RT, room temperature; ST, Sapindus trifoliatus; TAC, total antioxidant capacity; TCA, trichloro acetic acid.