Investigation of in-vitro antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of Blumea lacera leaf extract

Abstract

Blumea lacera (family: Asteraceae) is a very potent plant for its various therapeutic properties. This research was intended to detect the antioxidant and cytotoxic potential of chloroform extract of this plant leaf. Antioxidant potential was assessed by a number of in-vitro antioxidant studies and among them DPPH free radical scavenging assay showed 86.43% inhibition of free radicals at 1200μg/mL of the extract with IC50 of 2.39μg/mL. Highest total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was found to be 285.47mg of GAE/g, 287.12mg of QE/g and 272.21mg of AAE/g at 1200μg/mL of extract, respectively. Cytotoxic activity was measured using in-vitro MTT assay against HeLa and MOLT-4 cell lines that showed IC50 of 3.46mg/mL and 3.29mg/mL for the extract. These results showed that the extract had strong antioxidant and low cytotoxic potential.