(P21-022-24) Does Noni Possesses Cytotoxic Properties? An In Vitro Study

Objectives: Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Cancer pain and fatigue during the treatment causes fright in people than the disease. The aim is to investigate the cytotoxic properties of noni-based products on human epithelial cancer (KB) cell lines by MTT assay.

Methods: In this study, the effect of noni products developed from noni fruit exudate, whole noni fruit and noni leaf on KB cancer cell lines was determined. Spray-dried noni exudate powder was developed from noni exudate (drip extraction method) using different proportions of gum arabic (4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 per cent) as carrier material to encapsulate. Whole ripe noni fruit powder was prepared by tray drying method at 60^O C for 10 hours. Pretreated noni leaves (plain/unblanched, steam blanched and hot water blanched) were dried using the tray drying method at 60^O C for 6 hours and crushed. Ethanolic extract of spray dried powder with 20 per cent gum arabic, ripe whole noni fruit powder and unblanched noni leaf powder was selected as the best treatment for the cytotoxic evaluation by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay on human epithelial cancer (KB) cell line. The results are determined by calculating cell viability. The research design used was Completely Randomized Design (CRD).

Results: The findings demonstrated that, as the concentration of the sample increased, the percentage viability of cancer cells decreased. At a concentration of 100 µg/ml, spray-dried noni exudate powder (SD) had 58.38 % of cell viability and whole noni fruit powder (NFP) had 58.35%. These two exhibited a more pronounced cytotoxic effect compared to noni leaf powder NLP (66.05 %). LC₅₀ value (µg/ml): SD - 115.431, NFP - 113.143, NLP- 135.771.

Conclusions: Noni possesses significant cytotoxic properties on human epithelial cancer (KB) cell lines. Different noni products had varying effects such as spray dried exudate powder and whole noni fruit powder exhibited significant cytotoxic effects than noni leaf powder. LC₅₀ value also depicts the aforesaid. Dietary supplementation of noni products in any form demonstrates to be an effective method to reduce cancer cell growth and also alleviate cancer fatigue.

Funding Sources: Kerala Agricultural University, India