Antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activities of the essential oil from fruits of Xylopia parviflora (A. Rich.) Benth. (Annonaceae) used in Cameroon as a culinary spice.

Epidemiological and preclinical evidence points to culinary herbs and spices as minor dietary constituents with multiple anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. The fruits of Xylopia parviflora (A. Rich.) Benth. (Annonaceae) are used as spice in Nkui and Nah poh, two traditional soups of the western region of Cameroon. The aim of our work was to evaluate the antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory activity of the essential oil from fruits of X. parviflora. Since the plant is used as a food we investigated the antiproliferative activity of the essential oil on HCT116 human colon carcinoma cell line, using MTT assay. The essential oil showed a high significant antiproliferative activity with IC50 value of 6.63 ± 0.3 µg/ml. Morphological changes, DNA fragmentation, fluorimetric analysis using propidium iodide and acridine orange, and caspase activation were investigated to understand the mechanism of action. The results showed that essential oil inhibited the growth of HCT116 cell line by inducing programmed cell death. Anti-inflammatory activity of essential oil was determined by measuring its inhibitory effect upon NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated RAW 264.7 macrophages. Data showed that the essential oil displayed significant NO-scavenging ability. This study indicates that essential oil of X.parviflora may potentially be used as dietary source of phytochemicals having beneficial effects on health.