Isolation and
characterization of anti-cancer compounds from ethanol extract of Vetiveria zizanioides
(Nash) roots and their cytotoxic effects
Chitra T., Jayashree S., Rathinamala J., Rajagopal B. and Thangavelu A.U.
Res. J. Biotech.; Vol. 21(2); 41-53;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/212rjbt041053; (2026)
Abstract
This study investigates the anti-cancer potential of compounds isolated from the
ethanol extract of Vetiveria zizanioides (Nash) roots. The roots were subjected
to sequential solvent extraction using ethanol, chloroform and petroleum ether,
followed by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and Preparative Thin Layer Chromatography
(PTLC) to isolate active fractions. The ethanol extract exhibited superior cytotoxicity
against MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines, with an IC50 value of 44.6 μg/ml,
compared to chloroform (IC50 56.54 μg/ml) and petroleum ether (IC50 99.63 μg/ml)
extracts. Among the fractions obtained from the ethanol extract, the second fraction
demonstrated the highest cytotoxic activity with an IC50 value of 29.1 μg/ml. Spectral
analyses (UV, IR, NMR and LC-MS) identified flavonoids as the major bioactive constituents.
The second fraction induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, as evidenced by DNA fragmentation,
lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and caspase-3 activation. Furthermore, the p53
gene was upregulated by 1.20 and 1.21-fold at concentrations of 200 μg/ml and 300
μg/ml respectively. These findings highlight the potential of V. zizanioides ethanolic
extract as a promising source of anti-cancer agents. Further studies are warranted
to elucidate the molecular mechanisms and to evaluate therapeutic efficacy in in
vivo models.
