Antioxidant and antiproliferative capacities of phenolics purified from Phyllanthus emblica L. fruit

Phyllanthus emblica is a widely distributed tropical medicinal plant with good therapeutic properties. Gallic acid, ellagic acid, mucic acid 1,4-lactone 3-O-gallate, isocorilagin, chebulanin, chebulagic acid and mallotusinin were isolated and purified from this plant. The antioxidant activities of these compounds were evaluated by in vitro models of scavenging superoxide anion radicals, DPPH radicals and ABTS radicals, chelating ability of ferrous ion and inhibition capability of Fe (II)-induced lipid peroxidation, respectively. The results revealed that all the tested phenolics showed strong radical scavenging activity, good potency to chelate Fe²⁺ and good inhibition ability of lipid peroxidation. Amongst mallotusinin and mucic acid 1,4-lactone 3-O-gallate were reported for the first time to have antioxidant activity. In addition, the in vitro antiproliferative activities of those phenolics against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines were assessed. Although the growth inhibition values induced by different phenolics on MCF-7 cell line yielded different effects, all the tested phenolics had apparent capacities of inhibiting the survival of MCF-7 human cancer cell line.