The College of Pharmacy discussed the MSc thesis entitled “Phytochemical investigation of some active constituents of Sansevieria trifasciata L. (Family: Asparagaceae) cultivated in Iraq and cytotoxic activity assessment in vitro on breast cancer cell lines” by Rawnak Yassoub Ahmed and the supervisors, Professor Dr. Enas J. Kadhim in the Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plant Department. The study aimed to assess the phytochemical properties of both the leaves and roots of the plant. The study included extraction, fractionation, isolation, purification, identification, and quantitative estimation of some biologically important constituents that belong to (flavonoids, phenolic acids, and alkaloidal groups) from the two parts (leaves and roots) of the plant. Preliminary identification of different active constituents was performed by specific chemical tests, thin layer chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Qualitative and quantitative assessments of the selected four compounds (apigenin, quercetin, chlorogenic acid, and luteolin) were applied using high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The results of thin layer chromatography and chemical tests of chloroform fractions for both leaves and roots showed the presence of an alkaloidal compound that was isolated as an unknown compound without standard by preparative layer chromatography. The isolated constituents identified by measurement of melting point, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were found to be a type of indole alkaloid. The second part of the study was concerned with the assessment of the possible cytotoxic effect of the ethyl acetate fraction from two parts of the plant (leaves and roots) on the breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-321) by using the MTT assay. The result showed that Sansevieria trifasciata has significant cytotoxic activity against breast cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner.
