J. Acad. Indus. Res. Vol. 1(3) August 2012 148 ISSN: 2278-5213 RESEARCH ARTICLE Antioxidant and anticancer activity of Helicteres isora dried fruit solvent extracts T. Muthu kumar1, A. Mary Violet Christy1, RCS. Ramya2, M. Malaisamy3, C. Sivaraj3, P. Arjun2, N. Raaman3 and K. Balasubramanian2 1Dept. of Biotechnology, Thanthai Hans Roever College, Perambalur-621212; 2Plant Tissue Culture, Food safety and Microbiology lab, National Agro Foundation, Anna University, Taramani Campus, Taramani, Chennai-600113; 3Fungal Biotechnology, Natural Products and Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory, Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai-600025.
[email protected]; +91 9003032704 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Helicteres isora dried fruit solvent extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant and anticancer activity. Acetone fruit extract H. isora showed (96.44%) strong antioxidant activity compared to hexane, and iso-propyl alcohol (IPA). Acetone extract exhibited better cytotoxicity against human lung cancer cells (NCI-H460) whereas; acetone and crude protein extracts showed activity against reactive oxygen species. Keywords: Helicteres isora, antioxidant, anticancer, acetone, cytotoxicity, reactive oxygen species. Introduction thoroughly in running tap water followed by distilled Helicteres isora Linn. is a shrub belongs to the family water. It was then dried at room temperature and Sterculiaceae commonly known as ‘East Indian Screw powdered using mechanical pulveriser and subjected for tree. The plant genus consists of 45 species distributed extraction. in warmer regions of hemispheres; four species are reported to occur in India (Anonymous, 1997). They are Preparation of dried fruit solvent extracts a rich source of medicinal compounds with a wide range Acetone extracts were extracted by soaking 250 g of properties (Bapalal, 1982), which is also known as powder in 900 mL of acetone for 72 h.