Anticancer and Antioxidant Activities of Egyptian Pomegranate Standardized Fruit Extracts
Amira Abdel Motaal Pharmaceutical Research and Development Department, Atos pharma, Sekem, 3 Cairo-Belbeis Road, El Horreya, Cairo, Egypt, P.B. 2834
Abstract:
Different parts of the fruit of Punica granatum L. family Punicaceae cultivated in Egypt were extracted and standardized to be assessed for their anticancer and antioxidant properties. An HPLC method was adopted for standardization using ellagic acid (EA) as a marker. The 50% ethanol was proven to be a better solvent for extraction than the 70% ethanol, as the 50% hydroalcoholic fruit extract was standardized to contain 5.9% total polyphenols compared to 4.4% in the 70% hydroalcoholic extract. The 50% hydroalcoholic extracts of the whole fruit, pulp and peels were standardized to contain 0.3, 0.02 and 1.9 % of EA, respectively. The peel extract showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 507 µg/ml) compared to the other two extracts, as well as, a pronounced anticancer activity against MCF7 human breast cancer cells and HCT116 colon cancer cells with IC50 values of 7.7 and 9.2 µg/ml, respectively. Here we report the possible use of pomegranate peels, a biological waste product, to develop natural pharmaceutical preparations.
