Pharmacological potential and chemical composition of crocus sativus leaf extracts

Olha Mykhailenko, Vilma Petrikaite, Michal Korinek, Fang Rong Chang, Mohamed El-Shazly*, Chia Hung Yen, Ivan Bezruk, Bing Hung Chen, Chung Fan Hsieh, Dmytro Lytkin, Liudas Ivanauskas, Victoriya Georgiyants, Tsong Long Hwang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Crocus sativus L. (saffron) has been traditionally used as a food coloring or flavoring agent, but recent research has shown its potent pharmacological activity to tackle several health-related conditions. Crocus sp. leaves, and petals are the by-products of saffron production and are not usually used in the medicine or food industries. The present study was designed to determine the chemical composition of the water and ethanolic extracts of C. sativus leaves and test their cytotoxic activity against melanoma (IGR39) and triple-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cell lines by MTT assay. We also determined their anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral activities. HPLC fingerprint analysis showed the presence of 16 compounds, including hydroxycinnamic acids, xanthones, flavonoids, and isoflavonoids, which could contribute to the extracts’ biological activities. For the first time, compounds such as tectoridin, iristectorigenin B, nigricin, and irigenin were identified in Crocus leaf extracts. The results showed that mangiferin (up to 2 mg/g dry weight) and isoorientin (8.5 mg/g dry weight) were the major active ingredients in the leaf extracts. The ethanolic extract reduced the viability of IGR39 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells with EC50 = 410 ± 100 and 330 ± 40 µg/mL, respectively. It was more active than the aqueous extract. Kaempferol and quercetin were identified as the most active compounds. Our results showed that Crocus leaves contain secondary metabolites with potent cytotoxic and antioxidant activities.

Original languageEnglish
Article number10
JournalMolecules
Volume27
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 01 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Anti-allergic activity
  • Anti-inflammatory activity
  • Anti-viral activity
  • Crocus sativus
  • Cytotoxic activity
  • Free radical scavenging activity
  • HPLC fingerprint

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