Antioxidant and anticancer activities of Adenophora triphylla leaf and root extracts

Abstract

The root of Adenophora triphylla is a highly valued medicinal resource that is used to prevent human obesity, cancer, and inflammation, whereas young leaves or sprouts of A. triphylla are used as food ingredients. In this study, we compared the antioxidant and anticancer activities of 70% ethanol extracts of A. triphylla roots and leaves. The leaf extract exhibited stronger 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)-radical scavenging activity, reducing power, and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) than the root extract. Furthermore, the leaf extract was observed to be a potent source of anticancer compounds that were effective against A549 (lung cancer), LNcaP (prostate cancer), SKOV3 (ovarian cancer), and Caco-2 (colorectal cancer) cells. These results indicate that not only the roots but also the leaves of A. triphylla can serve as valuable sources of functional materials in the pharmaceutical industry.

Variability in Phytochemical Contents and Biological Activities among Adenophora triphylla Genotypes

“…As shown in Figure 3c The tested phytochemical contents exhibited no correlation with the results of other antioxidant-activity tests. Consistent with our results, the leaf extract from 2-month-old A. triphylla displayed more potent antioxidant activities when compared with the root extract [14]. In higher plants, polyphenolic compounds are synthesized in a light-dependent manner and serve to protect the photosynthetic apparatus from photoinhibition induced by excessive light [28].…”

“…Lupenone (lupane-type triterpenoid) and β-sitosterol (sterol) are marker compounds used to differentiate the Campanulaceae family and assess the quality of A. triphylla. [14,25,26]. As shown in Figure 2d,e, the leaf extracts of the collected genotypes contained lupenone and β-sitosterol within the range of 16.52-89.90 µg/g of extract and 10.82-37.49 µg/g of extract, respectively.…”

“…The contents of lupenone and β-sitosterol were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with a diode array detector (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany) and a Poroshell 120 EC-c18 column (4.6 × 150 mm, 4 µm), as described by Yoon et al [14]. The contents of all these compounds were analyzed by comparing the retention times and the ultraviolet spectral data.…”