Phytochemical Constituents, Antioxidant Activity, and Toxicity Assessment of the Seed of L. (Anacardiaceae).

OBJECTIVES

Increased generation of free radicals exceeding the antioxidant capacity of the host is deleterious. Thus new, potent, and safe antioxidants will be a valuable addition to the limited antioxidant arsenals available. Therefore, the antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity potential, and phytochemical constituents of the methanol extract of seed (MESSM) were investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), nitric oxide (NO), and hydrogen peroxide (HO) were the antioxidant assays used. The cytotoxicity of MESSM was evaluated against a rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cell line in a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide based assay. The phytochemical constituents of MESSM were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

RESULTS

MESSM produced better antioxidant activity in the DPPH (IC=58.64±1.49 μg/mL) and HO (IC=44.03±5.57 μg/mL) assays than in the NO (IC=494.55±12.68 μg/mL, p<0.0001) assay. Moreover, MESSM was nontoxic (CC50=139.6±0.54 μg/mL) in comparison to cyclophosphamide (CC50=0.97±0.03 μg/mL) against the RD cell line. The major compounds in MESSM were dodecanoic acid (22.48%), tetradecanoic acid (17.95%), n-hexadecanoic acid (15.35%), capsaicin (12.11%), and dihydrocapsaicin (5.23%).

CONCLUSION

The seed extract of contains nontoxic antioxidant compounds that could be explored in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries for the development of antioxidant agents.