Chemical Composition and Anticancer Properties of Alpinia calcarata Rosc. Rhizome

Alpinia calcarata, a member of Zingiberaceae family, is commonly found in Bangladesh and has been used for many years in traditional medicine systems for the prevention of various disease conditions and EEACR showed antiproliferative activity against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells [1]. In the present study, EEACR induced Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cell death in a dose dependent manner (at a range of concentration 6.25-100µg/mL). EEACR induced nuclear condensation and fragmentation which are notable features of apoptosis as observed by fluorescence microscopy after staining EAC cells with Hoechst 33342. In addition, GC–MS analysis of EEACR confirmed the presence of carotol, 3a(1H)-azulenol, 2,3,4,5,8,8a-hexahydro-6,8a-dimethyl-3-(1-methylethyl) (2.305%), hexadecanoic acid or palmitic acid (11.448%), oleic acid (7.603%), arachidic acid (3.199%), palmitic acid 2-(tetradecayloxy)ethyl ester (1..696%), 1-phenylcyclohexanecarboxylic acid (18.477%) and phthalic acid, 6-ethyloct-3-yl 2ethylhexyl ester (55.271%). The overall findings of this study suggest that EEACR may provide a natural source of antineoplastic activity.