Table 1 Examples of medicinal plants as a source of phenolic compounds with anticancer properties
From: Phenolic compounds as Nrf2 inhibitors: potential applications in cancer therapy
Medicinal plants | Bioactive compound-phenolics/type of tested extract | Experimental Model | Results | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Moringa oleifera (moringa, Moringaceae) | Quercetin, phenolic acids: gallic, sinapic, vanillic, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzoic, p-coumaric, m-coumaric, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy cinnamic, caffeic, syringic n-hexane extract | in vitro Hela cervical cancer cells | ↓ cancer cell viability IC50 = 416 μg/ml | [41] |
Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper, Solanaceae) | Phenolics – flavonoids dihydroxycinnamic acids methanolic and ethanolic extract | in vitro PC3 prostate cancer cells L929 normal fibroblasts HCT116 colon carcinoma cells | ↑cytotoxicity IC50 = 51 μg/ml no toxicity on L929 IC50 = 94 μg/ml ethanolic extract which contains capsianoside, and its fractions – water, 40% methanol in water and 70% methanol in water were less cytotoxic for HCT116 | [46] |
Urtica dioica leaves (nettle, Urticaceae) | Flavonoids and phenolics, mainly patuletin, m/p-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid aqueous extract | in vitro U937, KG-1 acute myeloid leukemia cells | ↓proliferation IC50 = 40 μM–100 μM/ml | [42] |
Arum palaestinum (black calla, Araceae) | Polyphenols—flavonoids ethanolic extract | in vitro Hela cancer cells | ↑cytotoxicity, ↓proliferation IC50 = 256 -512 μg/ml | [43] |
Arum palaestinum (black calla, Araceae), Urtica pilulifera (nettle, Urticaceae) | Phenols—flavonoids ethanolic extract | in vitro MCF-7 breast cancer cells | ↑cytotoxicity antioxidant, free radical scavenging U. pilulifera extract, IC50= 63 μg/ml A. palaestinum extract, IC50= 500–600 μg/ml | [45] |
Asplenium nidus (fern, Aspleniaceae) | Flavonoids (gliricidin7-O-hexoside, quercetin-7-O-rutinoside, keampferol-3-O-rutinoside, myricetin-3-O-rhamnoside) ethanolic extract | in vitro HepG2 human hepatoma cells Hela cervical carcinoma cells | ↑cytotoxicity antioxidant free radical scavenging | [54] |
Curcuma longa (turmeric) and Zingiber officinale (ginger) (Zingiberaceae) | Polyphenols ethanolic extract | in vitro B164A5 murine melanoma cells | ↑antioxidant capacity and amount of polyphenols in ethanolic extract from C. longa rhizome than from Z. officinale rhizome; inhibition index for the B164A5 cell line two times was higher for Curcuma compared with Zingiber extract | [47] |
Cinnamomum cassia (cinnamon, Lauraceae) | Polyphenols—tannins ethanolic extract | in vitro B16F10, clone M3 mouse melanoma cells Hela cervical carcinoma cells Caco2 human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cells | ↓proliferation IC50 = 0.5 mg/ml | [40] |
Senegalia macrostachya (Fabaceae) | Flavonoids—tannins dichloromethane and methanolic extract from the root and steam bark | in vitro U937, K562 myeloid leukemia cancer cells | antioxidant the root bark dichloromethane and methanolic extracts demonstrated higher cytotoxicity on U937 and K562 the stem bark methanolic extract selectively affected U937 | [50] |
Plinia cauliflora (berry, Myrtaceae) | Flavonoids, anthocyanins, ellagitannins ethanolic extract | in vitro L929 murine non-cancer cells MDA-MB-231 estrogenic receptor-negative breast cells | antioxidant non-toxic effect on L929, ↑ cytotoxicity ↓viability of cells IC50 = 500–1000 μg/ml | [48] |
Green tea | Catechins—epigallocatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, epicatechin, epicatechin gallate ethanolic extract | in vitro MCF-7 breast cancer cells HepG2 liver cancer Hela cervical cancer cells PC3 prostate cancer cells A549 lung cancer cells | ↑ cytotoxicity IC50 = 292 mg/ml for MCF-7 IC50 = 327 mg/ml for HepG2 IC50 = 331 mg/ml for Hela IC50 = 351 mg/ml for PC3 IC50 = 384 mg/ml for A549 | [79] |
Eucheuma cottonii (red seaweed, Rhodophyta) | Phenolics—catechin, rutin, quercetin | in vitro MCF-7 estrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells MB-MDA-231 estrogen-independent human breast cancer cells | ↓proliferation IC50 = 20 μg/ml for MCF-7 IC50 = 42 μg/ml for MB-MDA-231 no toxicity on normal cell lines | [52] |
Sargassum muticum (brown seaweed, Ochrophyta) | Phenolics – catechin, phlorotannin, quercetin methanolic extract | in vitro MCF-7 estrogen-dependent human breast cancer cells MB-MDA-231 estrogen-independent human breast cancer cells | ↑ cytotoxicity ↑apoptosis IC50 = 22 μg/ml for MCF-7 IC50 = 55 μg/ml for MDA-MB-231 | [53] |
Acanthospermum hispidum (bristly starbur, Asteraceae) | Polyphenolics methanolic extract | in vitro MCF-7 breast cancer cells CORL2 human large cell lung carcinoma cells SVK-14 normal human keratinocytes | ↑ cytotoxicity IC50 ≤ 50 μg/ml | [49] |
Diospyros kaki (persimmon) | Polyphenols Kaki tannin water extract | in vitro Molt 4B human lymphoid leukemia cells | ↓ growth of cancer cells ↑ apoptosis | [44] |
Ficus carica (fig tree, Moraceae) | Polyphenols – flavonoids Tannins methanolic extract | in vitro Huh7it liver cancer cells | antioxidant ↓ growth of cancer cells IC50 = 1000 μg/ml | [51] |