Assessment of Cytotoxic Effect and Phytoconstituents of Moringa oleifera Seeds Cultivated in Iraq Against MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants Department, Pharmacy College, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract

The cytotoxic activity of Moringa oleifera (MO) dried seeds against the Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cell line was assessed, and its phytoconstituents were screened by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). For this purpose, butanol and ethyl acetate extracts of MO seeds were prepared, and the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazoline-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was performed on MCF-7 breast cancer cells treated with different concentrations of the ethyl acetate extract (31.25, 62.5, 125, 250, 500, and 1000 µg/ml). After 72 hours of treatment, cell viability was assessed. The ethyl acetate fraction of MO seeds showed cytotoxic activity with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 60 µg/ml against the MCF-7 cell line. In addition, RP-HPLC analysis showed that caffeic acid, ellagic acid and p-coumaric acid were found in abundance in the butanol fraction, while ferulic acid was found in abundance in the ethyl acetate fraction. Overall, extracts from MO seeds show potential anticancer activity.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Medicinal plants and By-products
Volume 15, Issue 1
January and February 2026
Pages 78-84

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