Pachira aquatica: biological activity and chemical composition of leaves, flowers, and seeds

Abstract

The chemical composition of Pachira aquatica crude extracts flowers, leaves, and seeds was obtained by UHPLC-ESI/qTOF and GC/MS. The antiproliferative activity was evaluated against the human tumour cell lines AGS (gastric), CaCo-2 (colorectal), MCF-7 (breast), and NCI-H460 (lung). The anti-inflammatory and cellular antioxidant activities were also studied. Flavonoids, phenolic acids, coumarins, and saturated fatty acids were identified in the samples. The concentration of extracts responsible for inhibiting 50% of nitric oxide production ranged from (149 to > 400 µg mL^-1). Antiproliferative activity against the tumour cell lines was: AGS (GI₅₀ 175 to > 400 µg mL^-1), Caco-2 (GI₅₀ 215 to > 400 µg mL^-1), MCF7 (GI₅₀ 232 to > 400 µg mL^-1) and NCI-H460 (GI₅₀ 208 to > 400 µg mL^-1). Cellular antioxidant activity remained between 73% to > 2000%. The selectivity index (SI) ranged from 1.00 to 2.78, indicating low antiproliferative activity.

Keywords: Palmitic acid; amentoflavone; catechin; flavonoids; phenolic acids.