In vitro Anticancer Activity of Selected Medicinal Plants from Oman

This paper reports in vitro anticancer activity of hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and water extracts obtained from twelve (12) medicinal plants including Aloe dhufarensis, Calotropis procera, Juniperus servaschanica, Lawsonia inermis, Maytenus dhofarensis, Moringa peregrina, Polygala senensis, Punica granatum, Rhazya stricta, Solanum incanum, Teucrium mascatense and Zataria multiflora collected from Oman. Crude ethanol extracts prepared by maceration of plant materials in ethanol were Kupchan partitioned to give hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol and aqueous fractions.  Cytotoxicities of the prepared fractions were measured by Alamar blue assay against ovarian cancer cell line (MCAS) and breast cancer cell line (MDA MB231). Thirteen extracts from five plants C. procera, J. servaschanica, M. dhofarensis, S. incanum and T. mascatense were found active against MCAS; hexane extract from J. servaschanica was the most active followed by chloroform extract from leaves of S. incanum (IC50 = 8.50 and 10.90 µg/ml, respectively). Furthermore, nine extracts from these plants except C. procera inhibited the growth of MDA MB321; hexane extract from J. servaschanica was again the most active followed by butanol extract of S. incanum. (IC50 = 11.4 and 19.44 µg/ml, respectively). Ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological information on flora growing in this intemperate, hot climate region could provide new chemical entities for development of new and more potent cancer chemotherapeutics.