Variations in the Bioactive Compounds Composition and Biological Activities of Loofah (Luffa cylindrica) Fruits in Relation to Maturation Stages

Abstract

The present work aimed to determine the antioxidant and antiproliferative potential of Luffa cylindrica fruits collected at two different maturation stages and to identify and compare their functional components composition. The MeOH extracts of L. cylindrica fruits harvested at 60 - 65 days after seeding (S1) and 85 - 90 days after seeding (S2) were investigated for their antioxidant activity using various assays. Furthermore, the antiproliferative activity of the extracts against HeLa human cervical cancer cells was explored with xCELLigence real time cell analyzer, while the effect of the samples on the membrane integrity of the same cell line was assessed using LDH cytotoxicity leakage assay. Ultimately, the phytochemicals were analyzed using GC/MS and HPLC/TOF-MS. The S1 sample had higher contents and more diversity in the phenolic compounds composition than S2. Furthermore, the S1 extract showed the highest antioxidant and antiproliferative activity, while the S2 extract had higher cytotoxicity towards HeLa cells. The findings revealed that the time of harvest has a big impact on the phytochemicals content and activity and that harvesting L. cylindrica at an early stage before the beginning of the development of the cellulose fibrous system is recommended for a rich phytochemical composition and efficient antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.

Variation in the Phenolic Compounds Profile and Antioxidant Activity in Different Parts of Hawthorn (Crataegus pentagyna Willd.) During Harvest Periods

“…[Routray & Orsat, 2014;Tiwari & Cummins, 2013]. Owing to all the above mentioned, many types of researches have addressed changes in the content of bioactive components of plants [Ben Ahmed et al, 2017;Cezarotto et al, 2017;Hlel et al, 2017;Rimkiene et al, 2017].…”

Polyphenols bioaccessibility and bioavailability assessment in ipecac infusion using a combined assay of simulated in vitro digestion and Caco‐2 cell model

“…In fact, the FRAP assay principle is different than DPPH and ABTS since it does not reflect the scavenging ability of the samples against free radicals but the ability of molecules to convert Fe (III) to Fe (II) (Hlel et al ., ). The differences in principles, mechanisms and targets could explain the different results.…”

“…The health‐promoting effect of plants antioxidants is thought to arise from their protective effects by counteracting ROS (Hlel et al ., ). One of the most important reasons for encouraging the consumption of polyphenol rich foods is their antioxidant activity such as scavenging free radicals, inhibiting ROS and preventing oxidative stress related diseases (Ahmed et al ., ; Ghali et al ., ).…”

“…These luring reasons may justify conducting a study exploring the bioavailability of phenolic compounds of ipecac as a first step for revealing more information and knowledge concerning this plant. It is a well‐established fact that polyphenols are the most abundant antioxidants in the human diet and they are known for their wide variety of biological activities and for the prevention from different kind of illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases (Belhadj et al ., ; Hlel et al ., ). However, the effects of polyphenols on health are inseparable from the notion of bioavailability.…”

Cytotoxic and Apoptotic Effects of Luffa Cylindrica Leaves Extract against Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemic Stem Cells

“…Luffa cylindrica (L.C.) with its different parts have shown powerful biological activities (Hlel et al, 2017). The cytotoxic activity of the whole plant ethanol extract on the HT-29 and HCT-15 cell lines has been reported (Sharma et al, 2015).…”