cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of five plant species of solanaceae family from iran

background: the use of natural products as anticancer and antioxidant agents has a long history. several drugs currently used in chemotherapy were isolated from plant species. objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity as well as phenol and flavonoid contents of five plant species of solanaceae family. methods: five plant species of solanaceae family were collected from different regions of iran. methanol extracts and chloroform fractions of these species were tested by brine shrimp lethality assay in order to detect cytotoxicity. antioxidant activity was evaluated by dpph method. the total phenol content was measured using folin - ciocalteu method. the flavonoid content was measured by a colorimetric assay. results: the extracts of datura innoxia and datura stramonium showed the highest cytotoxicity activities with lc50 values of 22.08 and 21.66 μg/ml, respectively. the chloroform fractions of these two species were subjected to cytotoxicity assay with lc50 values of 33.00 and 4.29 μg/ml, respectively. in comparing, solanum dulcamara showed the highest antioxidant activity with ic50 values of 52.51 μg/ml and the highest phenol and flavonoid content of the dry weight. conclusion: it could be seen among five tested plant species that d. stramonium had the highest cytotoxic activity and s. dulcamara had the highest antioxidant activity, phenol and flavonoid content. further studies are necessary for chemical composition of the extracts and more comprehensive biological assays.