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Annona muricata, commonly known as soursop and Graviola, is a member of the Annonaceae family. Some of its phytochemicals were reported to have a neurotoxicity effect causing neurodegenerative diseases. However, different parts of this tree have been used for ages in traditional medicine due to their biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer effects. This study aimed to qualitatively screen the crude ionic liquid-Graviola fruit extract (IL-GFE) phytochemical composition, assess its acute toxicity and determine the lethal concentrations using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos. IL-GFE contains acetogenins, alkaloids, phenols, terpenoids, tannins and flavonoids. Acute toxicity effects of IL-GFE on zebrafish embryos were observed from 24 to 120 hours of post fertilisation (hpf). The survival rate, LC50, sublethal endpoints and effect of IL-GFE on the heart rate of zebrafish larvae were assessed. Results showed that the lethal concentration (LC50) of the crude IL-GFE was 173.45 μg/mL. Interestingly, no significant changes on the morphology of the treated zebrafish were observed at a concentration of 125 μg/mL. However, the heart rate of zebrafish larvae at 96 hpf was significantly decreased by 33.76% after treated with crude IL-GFE at 125 µg/mL (119.00 ± 4.72 beats/min) as compared to the untreated group (179.67 ± 4.66 beats/min). This preliminary finding showed that crude ionic liquid-Graviola fruit extract and its phytoconstituents might have the potential to be developed as a food supplement or herbal product. However, further tests need to be conducted to evaluate its medicinal properties and adverse effects on organisms of higher orders.

Background: This study is on Acacia seyal gum, which is an exudate from Talha (Acacia seyal) tree. It provides a rich source of prebiotic that is used traditionally in folk medicine. Aims: The anti-proliferative effect (APE) of Acacia seyal gum (ASG) and Prebio-T-commercial (PTC) samples on human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines and their antioxidant activities (AA) were investigated. Methods: The methanol crude extracts of both Acacia seyal gum and Prebio-T-commercial were fractioned into acetone and methanol, respectively. The antiproliferative effect on human breast cancer cell lines for each fraction was examined using sulphorhodamine assay (SRB assay). Methanol crude extracts and their active compositions were analysed carefully using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique. Results: The most anti-proliferative effect was detected in the sample collected from Prebio-T-commercial (IC50=8.97µg/mL) as compared to Acacia seyal gum (IC50=9.56µg/mL). Regarding total phenolic content (TPC), the methanol crude extracts values are 694±2.58mg, GAE/100g for Prebio-T-commercial as compared to 155.78±2.58, GAE/100g for Acacia seyal gum. However, both acetone and methanol fractions of Acacia seyal gum and Prebio-T-commercial were found to be highly anti-proliferative to human breast cancer. For bioactive compounds determinations, the methanol crude extract from Acacia seyal gum is mainly dominated by Isovitamin C (42.37%), Crypton (5.86%), and Hydroquinone (4.86%) as major components. Conclusion: Finally, the antioxidant and anti-proliferative properties of the active fraction have shown some evidence regarding its use in traditional medicine as well as the prevention of cancer cell growth. This suggests the potential use of their bioactive compounds as natural anticancer agents.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Medicinal plants have been used for ages by indigenous communities around the world to help humankind sustain its health. Graviola (Annona muricata), also called soursop, is a member of the Annonaceae family and is an evergreen plant that is generally distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Graviola tree has a long history of traditional use due to its therapeutic potential including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, insecticide and cytotoxic to tumor cells. Aim of the study This study aimed to investigate the in vitro antiproliferative effects and apoptotic events of the ionic liquid extract of Graviola fruit (IL-GFE) on MCF-7 breast cancer cells and their cytokinetics behaviour to observe their potential as a therapeutic alternative in cancer treatment. Materials and methods The cell viability assay of the extract was measured using tetrazolium bromide (MTT assay) to observe the effects of Graviola fruit extract. Then the cytokinetics behaviour of MCF-7 cells treated with IL-GFE is observed by plotting the growth curve of the cells. Additionally, the cell cycle distribution and apoptosis mechanism of IL-GFE action on MCF-7 cancer cells were observed by flow cytometry. Results IL-GFE exhibited anti-proliferative activity on MCF-7 with the IC50 value of 4.75 μg/mL, compared to Taxol with an IC50 value of 0.99 μg/mL. IL- GFE also reduced the number of cell generations from 3.71 to 1.67 generations compared to 2.18 generations when treated with Taxol. Furthermore, the anti-proliferative activities were verified when the growth rate was decreased dynamically from 0.0077 h to 1 to 0.0035 h-1. Observation of the IL-GFE-treated MCF-7 under microscope demonstrated detachment of cells and loss of density. The growth inhibition of the cells by extracts was associated with cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase, and phosphatidylserine externalisation confirms the anti-proliferation through apoptosis. Conclusions ionic liquid Graviola fruit extract affect the cytokinetics behaviour of MCF-7 cells by reducing cell viability, induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase.

The aim of this paper is to discover the cytotoxicity activity of Acacia seyal gum and Prebio-Tcommercial (PTC) samples on human colon cancer (HCT-116) cell lines; in addition, its polyphenolic properties are investigated. Approach: The methodology used in this paper involves fractionating methanol crude extracts of both Acacia seyal gum and Prebio-T-commercial, respectively. The cytotoxicity activity on human colon cancer cell lines for each fraction was studied using sulforhodamine B assay (SRB assay). Both samples, Acacia seyal gum and Prebio-T-commercial (PTC), were analysed precisely using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. Findings: Based on the analysis, more cytotoxicity activity was identified in the sample obtained from Acacia seyal gum (IC50=13.36µg/mL) compared to PTC (IC50=17.18µg/mL). Regarding the flavonoids content (FC), quercetin was the only flavonoids detected in the samples, found to be approximate of 4,640µg/100g for Acacia seyal gum, almost double the value of 2,560µg/100g for PTC. Implications: The implications of this study are the evidence of flavonoids content and anti-cancer activity for both Acacia seyal gum and PTC used in folk medicine, as well as anticipation of cancer cell growth. It is expected that the proposed methods will give a noble contribution to the possible use of their bioactive compounds as natural anti-cancer agents.

Gum Arabic (GA), also known as Acacia seyal gum (ASG), is a dried exudate from trees of Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. It provides a rich source of non-viscous soluble fiber with significant health benefits and high antioxidant properties. Tonnes of raw GA are exported annually at a high cost with limited utilization in extraction form. Techniques for the extraction of the bioactive components of GA are available but the high extraction time and the capacity and quality of extraction hinders these procedures. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction is one of the most effective techniques for the recovery of antioxidant and phenolic compounds from ASG. A comparatively low extraction time has been reported for ultrasonication, but the influence of several extraction conditions such as temperature, time and ultrasonic power on the yield of extraction has not been thoroughly studied. This study investigates the optimal ultrasonic extraction conditions for maximum recovery of antioxidant and phenolic compounds from ASG using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) under the Central Composite Design (CCD). Three ultrasonic parameters, namely time in the range of (1-3 hours), power in the range of (1-3 level or 12 to 40 kHz) and temperature from (25-60 °C) were tested for their impact on antioxidant activity. The capacity of the extracts was determined by the scavenging activity of 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, and total phenolic compounds (TPC). The results indicated that ultrasonic time, power and temperature had a positive impact on antioxidant capacity and phenolic compounds. The optimum ultrasonic conditions were found to be a time of 3 hours, a power of 40 kHz, and a temperature of 42.50°C, under which, forty-eight bioactive compounds from the ASG extract were separated by Gas Chromatography coupled to Tandem Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS).

There are still, in many parts of the globe, some edible fruit collects from the wild for human feeding and other uses. These fruits are utilised either in their raw nature or after some form of processing. One of these wild fruits are Vaccinium species such as Vaccinium myrtoides (Blume) Miq., Vaccinium cylindraceum, Vaccinium padifolium, Vaccinium corymbosum, Vaccinium myrtillus and others from the plant family Ericaceae. The term wild infers non-cultivated plants found in plantation felids or the forest. The species Vaccinium myrtoides and the others are small trees (shrubs) that are well known in Southeast Asian countries such as Philippines, Indonesia and other neighbouring islands. The plants classified as wild growing shrubs. However, the locals have made it be fully utilized in some areas as the wood that are used in grafting utensils and cutleries, or as fuel and fruits. The small-sized berry-like fruits with an average diameter of about 4–5 mm turn black when ripe. They have a delicious flavour that makes it edible and used in the making of other delicacies such as tart and pies to add flavour and as preservatives as well. A few published researches were done on Vaccinium myrtoides showing that it is still used in folkloric medicine. Leaves and fruits extracts showed strong antioxidant activity when tested in-vitro using DPPH (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity as part of a preliminary phytochemical screening for V. myrtoides. The study revealed that the antioxidant activity is due to the presence of flavonoids and other phenolic compounds in the plant leaves and fruit extracts.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Medicinal plants have been used by indigenous people across the world for centuries to help individuals preserve their wellbeing and cure diseases. Annona muricata L. (Graviola) which is belonging to the Annonaceae family has been traditionally used due to its medicinal abilities including antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and cancer cell growth inhibition. Graviola is claimed to be a potential antitumor due to its selective cytotoxicity against several cancer cell lines. However, the metabolic mechanism information underlying the anticancer activity remains limited. Aim of the study This study aimed to investigate the effect of ionic liquid-Graviola fruit pulp extract (IL-GPE) on the metabolomics behavior of colon cancer (HT29) by using an untargeted GC-TOFMS-based metabolic profiling. Materials and methods Multivariate data analysis was used to determine the metabolic profiling, and the ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) was used to predict the altered canonical pathways after treating the HT29 cells with crude IL-GPE and Taxol (positive control). Results The principal components analysis (PCA) identified 44 metabolites with the most reliable factor loading, and the cluster analysis (CA) separated three groups of metabolites: metabolites specific to the non-treated HT29 cells, metabolites specific to the treated HT29 cells with the crude IL-GPE and metabolites specific to Taxol treatment. Pathway analysis of metabolomic profiles revealed an alteration of many metabolic pathways, including amino acid metabolism, aerobic glycolysis, urea cycle and ketone bodies metabolism that contribute to energy metabolism and cancer cell proliferation. Conclusion The crude IL-GPE can be one of the promising anticancer agents due to its selective inhibition of energy metabolism and cancer cell proliferation.

Guiera senegalensis (GS) reflects the reduced glucose exposure of erythrocytes over a preceding time frame proportional to erythrocyte survival. GS is thus an anti-diabetic function of the glucose-time curve, an educationally useful concept to aid teaching and clinical judgment. Sixty-one newly diagnosed patients with an average age of 48.2 years and weight of 64.9 kg have participated in the study. Participants were significantly different in their educational, socioeconomic levels, and most of them have no family history of diabetes. To evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of GS, the patients were divided into four groups (G1, G2, G3 and G4) and treated with four different doses of the aqueous extract of the herb ( 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 Oz of GS boiled for 10 minutes in 0.5-litre water). The experiment has lasted for five days for each group, and the blood glucose level of the patients was checked using GOD –POD method, at fasting (FBS) and following two hours after the breakfast (RBS). Another group of 30 patients (control) received Douniel drug (5mg/day/person) instead of the GS herb extract and checked for glucose level with the same procedure mentioned above. The results revealed that blood glucose level (mg/dl) for all patients lowered by 9% after every 24 hours of the treatment and by 35% at the end of the treatment. The average fasting and random blood glucose levels were significantly (P

Gum Arabic (GA) is the main product of acacia trees. As a raw and commercial samples, GA was extracted with methanol and analysed to measure the antioxidant activity using five methods: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Folin-Ciocalteu indexes (FCI), which indicate total phenolic compounds (TPC), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC). This study used antioxidant assays to detect TPC and selected appropriate and inexpensive methods to determine the antioxidant capacity of GA samples. The results reveal that the FCI, ORAC, and CUPRAC are correlated highly with FRAP. Person’s correlation coefficient (r) values are 0.98, 0.93, and 0.99, respectively, based on the sample size of(n=8). This means that the TPC of GA is highly correlated with their antioxidant activities that are measured by these three methods. Hence the FCI, ORAC, and the CUPRAC methods are more effective and simpler. They had similar predictive power to the FRAP of GA antioxidant activity. Consequently, GA is generally recognized as being slightly acidic which may have been obtained from appropriate methods of the antioxidant capacity detection. This acidity is due to the electronic transfer mechanism based on the selection of the working pH.

Although there are more than 1100 species of Acacia distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, most commercial gum arabic is derived from Acacia senegal locally known as hashab gum (in the Sudan) and as Kordofan gum around the world. Gum arabic has been known for many thousands of years and there are no artificial substitutes that match it for quality or cost of the production.1 Gum arabic consists mainly of high-molecular weight polysaccharides made up of rhamnose, arabinose, and galactose, glucuronic and 4-O-methylglucuronic acid, and the salts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium of the two acids.