Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the leaf extracts from Trapa bispinosa and active components

Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the Trapa bispinosa leaf were investigated in this study. The leaves of this plant were extracted with 95% ethanol and water, respectively. Both ethanol extract (EE) and water extract (WE) exhibited the antioxidant activity. EE exhibited stronger superoxide anion- scavenging capacity than WE. For antiproliferative activity of both crude extracts, EE was stronger than WE against all cancer cell lines tested, except for lung cancer cell line A549. Further separation was carried out on EE by macroporous resin to obtain eleven fractions. Among all fractions, the fraction eluted by 80% methanol had the highest total phenolic content (TPC) and the strongest antiproliferative property against three cancer cell lines. Phytochemical composition of this fraction was analyzed by HPLC-MS. The main components responsible for the antioxidant and antiproliferative activities were elucidated. These results suggest that the Trapa bispinosa leaf could also be potential sources for prevention of cancer and other diseases associated with oxidative stress.