Citation :

Cissé Salimatou, Dembélé Bintou, Traoré Nahand Somboro Aimé Ainin, "Phytochemical Study and Anticancer Activity of Root Extracts of Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Waterman (Rutaceae), Collected in Mali," International Journal of Applied Chemistry, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 34-40, 2026. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23939133/IJAC-V13I2P104

Abstract

Zanthoxylum Zanthoxyloides (Lam.) Waterman, commonly known by its vernacular name “Wo”, is a medicinal plant of the Rutaceae family widely used in Malian traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases, including cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of root extracts of Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides collected from two sites in Mali (Yanfolila and Ouélessébougou). Ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts were prepared from powdered roots. Chemical constituents were characterized using standard tube reaction tests. The anticancer activity of the extracts was evaluated on the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line using the resazurin assay. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, coumarins, flavonoids, sterols, and terpenes. The ethyl acetate extracts from Ouélessébougou and Yanfolila exhibited anticancer activity with IC₅₀ values of 37.28 μg/mL and 47.10 μg/mL, respectively. The ethyl acetate extract from Ouélessébougou showed the highest activity. These results are nevertheless clearly better than those of tamoxifen (with an IC50 = 4.425 μg/mL) and [5-Fluorouracil] (with an IC50 of 0.525 μg/mL) tested on the same cell line in the lab under the same conditions. The anticancer activity observed is the first study on extracts of Z. zanthoxyloides, a medicinal plant collected in Mali. This activity could be due to a synergistic action of the chemical components. The anticancer activity of the extracts could be attributed to a synergistic action of their chemical constituents. Further investigations are needed to isolate and identify the compounds responsible for this activity.

Keywords

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides, Anticancer activity, Mali.

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