Phytochemical constituents and in vitro anticancer screening of isolated compounds from Eriocephalus africanus‡

This study investigated the in vitro anticancer potential of phytochemical constituents isolated from the methanolic extract of Eriocephalus africanus. One flavanone (hesperidin) and two flavones (luteolin and apigenin) were isolated for the first time from the plant using column chromatography. Standard MTT assay was used to evaluate the effect of the constituents on cell viability in MCF-7, A549, HepG2 and normal HEK 293 cell lines. The flavonoids decreased cell viability in a dose dependent manner in all tested cell lines. Hesperidin and luteolin were more sensitive against MCF-7, with EC50 values of 62.57 mu g/mL and 70.34 mu g/mL, respectively and apigenin showed the most potent activity against HepG2 (EC50 = 11.93 mu g/mL). The results revealed E. africanus to be a rich source of flavonoids and natural anticancer agents, which could potentially be used in the development of new therapeutics for cancer treatment.