Chemical study, antimalarial and antioxidant activities, and cytotoxicity to human breast cancer cells (MCF7) of Argania spinosa

Abstract Introduction In our work, we evaluate the potential antioxidant, antimalarial activity and also activity against human breast cancer cells (MCF7) of Argan fruit extracts using in vitro models to validate the traditional use of this plant. Its chemical composition was also studied to begin the understanding of its activities, waiting to find the structure-activity relationship. Results Polyphenols (89.4–218.5 eqGallic acid (mg/g dry)), tannins (39.3–214.0 eqCatechin (mg/g dry)), flavonoids (3.4–11.1 eqQuercetin (mg/g dry)) and anthocyanins (0.74–10.92 eqCyanindin (μg/g dry)) were quantified. A good (ethyl acetate and decoction) and moderate (petroleum ether) antioxidant activity were obtained for DPPH (IC 50 32.3–600.8 μg/ml) and ABTS (IC 50 11.9–988.8 μg/ml) assays. In addition, we found a good antimalarial activity (IC 50 35 to >100 μg/ml) and human breast cancer cells activity (IC 50 42 to >100 μg/ml). Conclusions The ethyl acetate extract and the decoction show interesting antimalarial and antioxidant activities. The results indicate a good correlations between anthocyanins quantitiy and the potential antioxidant (R 2 =0.9867) and also to antimalarial activity (R 2 =0.8175).