Anti-cancer and antioxidant properties of phenolics isolated from Toona sinensis A Juss acetone leaf extract

Purpose: To investigate the antioxidant and anticancer activities of phenolics from the leaf extract of Toona sinensis (TS). Methods: Acetone leaf extract of TS was screened for total phenolic and flavanoid contents, and the flanonoids were subjected to high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analysis. Antioxidant properties were assessed via oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), peroxyl radical scavenging capacity (PSC) and cellular antioxidant activity (CAA), while anti-proliferative activity ins HepG2 cell line was assessed using methylene blue assay. Results: The extract contained 36.02 ± 0.24 mg of gallic acid equiv/g dry weight (DW) and 20.24 ± 1.73 mg of catechin equiv/g DW of total phenolic and total flavonoid, respectively. The levels of rutin and quercitrin were 0.51 and 19.55 mg/g, respectively. Epicatechin, gallic acid, quercitin, isoquercetin were not detected. The extract showed significant antioxidant potential and high anti-proliferation capacity with low cytotoxicity against HepG2 cell in vitro. The underlying mechanism of anti-proliferative effect was induction of apoptosis. Conclusion: TS leaf extract possesses significant in vitro antioxidant properties and anti-proliferative effect against HepG2 cells, which make it a potential anticancer drug source.