The Fruit of Punica granatum act as Potential Cytotoxic agent against the human breast cancer cell line HS-578T

Asish Bhaumik^1*, K. Narender Naidu², Mahendar Boddupally³, Md. Salmasultana^{4
1, 4}Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Analysis, Teja College of Pharmacy, Kodad, Nalgonda-508206, Telangana, India.
²Department of Pharmaceutics, MITS College of Pharmacy, Kodad, Nalgonda-508206, Telangana, India.
³Department of Pharmacology, Pratishta Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Durajpally, Chivemla, Nalgonda-508214, Telangana, India.

A B S T R A C T
The edible fruit of Punica granatum is a berry and is between a lemon and a grapefruit in size, 5–12 cm in diameter with a rounded hexagonal shape, and has thick reddish skin. The exact number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1400 seeds, contrary to some beliefs that all pomegranates have exactly the same number of seeds. Each seed has a surrounding water-laden pulp the edible sarcotesta that forms from the seed coat ranging in color from white to deep red or purple. The seeds are embedded in a white, spongy, astringent membrane. The main aim and objectives of the present work was to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of various extracts [Acetone (ACT), Chloroform (CLF) and Ethylacetoacetate (EAA)] of fruits of Punica granatum. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated by MTT assay against the human breast cancer cell line (HS-578T) and doxorubicin was used as standard anticancer drug. The experimental data had displayed that the various extracts (ACT, CLF and EAA) of fruits of Punica granatum possessed a very good cytotoxic activity. From the present studied it had been concluded that all the extracts viz: ACT, CLF and EAA of fruits of Punica granatum were exhibiting the potential capability to kill the cancer cell when compared with standard drug doxorubicin. The cell growth inhibition by various extracts of fruit of Punica granatum were varied due to the presence of varying concentration of different bioactive compounds. CLF had displayed the highest cell growth inhibition (94.28 %) at 25 µg (IC₅₀ = 2.4 µg/ml) due to the presence of polyphenols (flavanoids) at higher concentration, ACT with the 93.6% growth inhibition at 25 µg (IC₅₀ = 2.9 µg/ml) and EAA with the 92.25% % growth inhibition at 25 µg (IC₅₀ = 3.5 µg/ml).
Keywords: Sarcotesta, cytotoxic activity, MTT assay, HS-578T, IC_50.