Journal of Emerging Trends in Engineering and Applied Sciences: Research Areas

Article Title: Chemical Profiling and Phytochemical Investigation of Cytotoxic Constituents of Senecio biafrae Oliv. & Hiern (Compositae)
by Funke Toyin Akinola, Vincent Olumayowa Oriyomi,Seun Bayonle Ogundele,Babatunde Mukaila Adekola,Joseph Morounfolu Agbedahunsi, Olusegun Olubunmi Babalola

Abstract:
This study investigated the cytotoxic activities of the methanolic leaf extract and fractions of Senecio biafrae Oliv. & Hiern (Compositae), profiled and elucidated their chemical constituents. Hydromethanolic extract of S. biafrae prepared by maceration was partitioned to afford respective fractions, which were subjected to cytotoxic activity using brine shrimp lethality assay, Human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) and prostate (PC3) cancer cell lines. The bioactive principles of the most active fractions were profiled using GC-MS technique, while the dichloromethane fraction was repeatedly fractionated and purified using column chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography to afford compounds 1 and 2, which were identified by spectroscopic analysis. The methanolic extract ? fractions exhibited good toxicity when tested against brine shrimp larvae. The hexane fraction exhibited a pronounced cytotoxic activity on PC-3 cell lines with 92.8% followed by the dichloromethane fraction. The GC-MS chemical profiling of hexane fraction identified 17 chemical constituents with hexadecanoic acid as the prominent volatile component. Structure elucidation confirmed compounds 1 and 2 as Stigmasterol and Ergosterol with exhibited cytotoxic activity which compared favourably with Doxorubicin. The cytotoxic activity in combination with the bioactive constituents of S. biafrae could make it a probable drug candidate for the management of cancer-related conditions.

Keywords: Senecio Biafrae, Cytotoxicity, Hela Cell Line, Prostate Cell Line, GC-MS Chemical Profiling

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