Guava Leaf Essential Oil as a Potent Antioxidant and Anticancer Agent: Validated through Experimental and...

Area of Science:

• Natural Product Chemistry
• Pharmacology
• Oncology

Background:

• Natural products have historically yielded crucial anticancer drugs.
• Exploring plant-derived compounds offers a promising avenue for novel cancer therapeutics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the in vitro antioxidant and anticancer activities of Psidium guajava (guava) essential oil.
• To evaluate the in silico anticancer and estrogen-like activity of guava essential oil compounds against estrogen receptors (ERs).

Main Methods:

• Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for chemical profiling.
• DPPH radical scavenging assay for antioxidant capacity.
• MTT assay for in vitro anticancer efficacy.
• In silico molecular docking against ER-α receptors.

Main Results:

• Guava essential oil contains 17 compounds, with limonene and eucalyptol as major constituents.
• The oil demonstrated potent antioxidant activity (IC50 = 29.3 µg/mL) and significant anticancer effects against breast and liver cancer cells.
• In silico analysis revealed potential for several compounds to act as selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), exhibiting favorable drug-likeness properties.

Conclusions:

• Psidium guajava essential oil possesses substantial anticancer therapeutic potential.
• The identified compounds may serve as leads for developing novel drugs to combat breast cancer.