Abstract

Plants of the Prospero genus have been used for promoting blood circulation, treating nervous conditions, infertility in women and rheumatic fever in the traditional folk medicine. The aim of present research was to investigate the phenolic composition, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of the aerial and underground parts of Prospero autumnale. While β-carotene/linoleic acid, metal chelating and phosphomolybdenum assays were used for the determining antioxidant activity, Folin-Ciocalteu assay, aluminium colorimetric and vanillin-sulfuric acid method were used to detect total phenolic, flavonoid and saponin contents in the extracts, respectively. The phenolic compounds of P. autumnale were estimated by high performance liquid chromatography analysis. Nine phenolics were identified in the extract. Quercetin was the major constituent in the extract and is mainly responsible for biological activities observed. Aerial parts of the plant showed higher antioxidant activity than the underground parts and this activity may be related to a good total phenolic content. In vitro cytotoxic activity was determined by a luminometric method against non-small cell lung carcinoma cells. Underground parts of the plant exhibited more than fifty percent mortality on H1299 cells at a concentration of 500 µg/ml. This cytotoxicity could be due to the saponins, which have been suggested as possible anticarcinogens in plants. Therefore, further in depth studies are needed elucidate the mechanism involved in cytotoxic activity of P. autumnale extract along with isolation and identification of active principles.