Anticancer Activity of Carica papaya Extracts in vito and Phytochemical Analysis

The aim of the present work is the evaluation of anti cancer effect of Carica papaya aerial parts extracts and also the investigation of the phytoconstituents from the extracts of the plant. Petroleum ether (40-60C), Chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol 80% extracts of C. papaya aerial parts were tested for their anti cancer activity on three cancer cells TK10 (renal), UACC62 (melanoma) and MCF7 (breast) cancer cells using a Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Petroleum ether of C. papaya at the concentration of 100 μg/ml has shown a significant anticancer effect for MCF7 (breast) cancer cells and showed less anticancer effect for the other two cancer cells while the other extracts have mild anticancer effect on the three cancer cells. Phytochemical profile of the plant extracts proves the presence of flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, carbohydrates and triterpenes and bioactive fractionation of petroleum ether extract revealed the isolation and identification of β-sitosterol, stigmasterol as the major constituents. The results suggest that petroleum ether extract of C. papaya exhibited a significant anti cancer activity for breast cancer.