Antioxidant and anticancer activities of Solanum nigrum Linn leaves

Abstract

Solanum nigrum Linn, belonging to the family Solanaceae, is a flowering species native to Australia, South Africa, and Asia. In the present study, the dried S. nigrum leaves were extracted with benzene, diethyl ether, and ethanol by Soxhlet’s extraction and screened qualitatively and quantitatively to determine their total phytoconstituent content and their potential antioxidant evaluation, followed by the GCMS analysis to predict the hit compounds. The highest amounts of phenols (120.50 mg), alkaloids (90.50 mg), and flavonoids (108.75 mg) were present in the diethyl ether extract of the Solanum nigrum leaves. In contrast, saponins (42.50g) are abundant in ethanol extract. The GCMS analysis of diethyl ether extract reported the top compounds with area %, height %, and specific retention times. The major compounds in the GCMS analysis are isopropyl myristate, octadecanedioic acid, and hexadecanedioic acid. Antioxidant assays such as the DPPH assay and reducing power assay revealed that the diethyl ether extract has more antioxidant activity than the standard itself. The two compounds from the GCMS study were then docked against an oncogene BRAF V600E and a mutated tumour suppressor gene p53 Y220C mutant. The results showed that the interaction was good and had higher negative binding energies. We report that S. nigrum leaves have potent antioxidant and anticancer properties.