In vitro anticancer activities of Withania coagulans against HeLa, MCF-7, RD, RG2, and INS-1 cancer cells and phytochemical analysis

Abstract Background The Pakistani Salt Range has a rich floral diversity including Withania coagulans from the Solanaceae family. Methods The crude methanolic extracts of the root, leaf, leaf stalk, and fruit of this plant were screened for their cytotoxic activity against human (HeLa, MCF-7, RD) and rat (RG2 and INS-1) cancer cell lines at 20 μg/mL and compared to methotrexate. The IC 50 values indicated that leaf stalk and fruit extracts exert an 80% or higher cytotoxic activity against all cell lines at 24 hours. Results The leaf stalk extract showed the highest cytotoxic efficacy against all tested cell lines, with IC 50 values ranging from 0.96 ± 0.01 μg/mL to 4.73 ± 0.05 μg/mL followed by the fruit extract with IC 50 values of 0.69 ± 0.01–6.69 ± 0.06 μg/mL after 48–72 hours incubation. The leaf stalk and seed extracts were analyzed for polyphenols and flavonoids using RP-HPLC. The total flavonoid content (TFC) was calculated for all tested samples, and the highest TFC was recorded for the root extract (394.34 ± 1.26 μg/g). The total phenolic content (TPC) was found in the seed extract (307.86 ± 9.42 μg/g) of W. coagulans . The highest contents of myricetin (358.46 ± 2.91 μg/g) were noted in the leaf extract, and highest quercetin was recorded in the seed extract (21.43 ± 0.13 μg/g). The highest gallic acid concentration (83.62 ± 0.71 μg/g) was recorded in leaf stalk extract and p -hydroxybenzoic acid in the seed extract (157.46 ± 1.43 μg/g). Conclusion The present study gives a scientific insight and comparative analysis of various plant parts in this medicinally important plant species from the Salt Range of Pakistan against both human and rat cancer cells.