Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Identification of novel anticancer terpenoids from Prosopis juliflora (Sw) DC (Leguminosae) pods

Shazia Kanwal Malik¹, Maqsood Ahmed², Farah Khan¹

¹Molecular Genetics & Biotechnology Laboratory, Botany Department, Lahore College for Women University, LHR, Pakistan; ²Riphah Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Riphah International University, Lahore, Pakistan.

For correspondence:- Farah Khan Email: drfarah_khann@yahoo.com Tel:+923334743668

Accepted: 23 March 2018 Published: 30 April 2018

Citation: Malik SK, Ahmed M, Khan F. Identification of novel anticancer terpenoids from Prosopis juliflora (Sw) DC (Leguminosae) pods. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(4):661-668 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i4.14

© 2018 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To identify a novel source of terpenoid anticancer compounds from P. juliflora (Sw.) DC. (Leguminosae) pods as a medicinal substitute for cancer medicines.

Methods: The pods were collected, dried and pulverized. The ethanol extract was prepared by maceration. Various phyto-constituents were detected in the extract by UV-VIS spectroscopy at a wavelength ranging from 200 - 800 nm. The molecular formula, chemical structure, and percent peak area of these phyto-constituents were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) was used for functional group determination of bioactive compounds.

Results: P. juliflora pods were rich in tannins, carotenoid and terpenoids. Nineteen bioactive compounds were detected. Out of these, thirteen are here reported for the first time with four of them exhibiting anticancer activities, while two belong chemically to terpenoids. Furthermore, FTIR established characteristic peaks for the various biologically-active functional groups.

Conclusion: The results show that P. juliflora pods is a valuable source of anticancer, antitumor and chemoprotective compounds, especially terpenoids, that can potentially be developed as alternatives to current painful and costly cancer therapies.

Keywords: Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC., Anticancer terpenoids, Attenuated total reflectance-FTIR, Herbal medicine