ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF PHLORETIN COMPOUND PURIFIED FROM IRAQI MALUS DOMESTICA L. (APPLE) LEAVES

The present study was dealing with a Polyphenolic compound known as Phloretin. Phloretin (Ph), a dihydrochalcone, was determined qualitatively and quantitatively in different aerial parts for Iraqi Malus domestica (apple), cv." Ibrahimi" included leaves, petioles, stems, fruit pulp, and peels extracts. Leaves represented a rich source of Ph, which was separated and purified by preparative HPLC. The chemical structure of the isolated Phloretin (Ph2) was confirmed using various analytical characterization techniques: TLC, HPLC, FTIR, Melting point, CHN elemental analyses, 1H-NMR, and 13C-NMR). The scavenging efficacy of Ph2 by DPPH assay was employed. Cytotoxic effect was assessed by MTT assay against cancer cell lines including (Hep G2/ human hepatocyte carcinoma, A549/ human lung adenocarcinoma, SW480 / human colon cancer cell, and AGS /adenocarcinoma of the stomach), beside the non-cancerous cell line (HEK 293). About 1.404 g Ph2 was obtained from 18.146 g apple leaves (7.7%). The DPPH and MTT assay results demonstrated that the purified Ph2 possessed potent antioxidant activity with significant anticancer effects on all cancer cell lines. Data suggested that purified Ph2 from Iraqi apple leaves has potential antioxidant, cytotoxicity, which may benefit in human health.