Folk medicine plants from Mexico and Central America found to have anticancer potential

For the study, the research team extracted methanol from either the stems or roots or a mixture of both of eight native plants that belong to six botanic families — Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae, Verbenaceae, Nictaginaceae and Boraginaceae.

The native plants examined include Acalypha cuspidata Euphorbiaceae, Acalypha subviscida Euphorbiaceae, Adenophyllum aurantium (L.) Strother Asteraceae, Alloispermum integrifolium Astearaceae, Galium mexicanum var mexicanum/Rubiaceae, Lantana achyranthifolia Verbenaceae, Salpianthus arenarius Nictaginaceae, and Tournefortia densiflora Boraginaceae. These plants are used in treating degenerative or infectious diseases.

The methanol extracts were examined for their antioxidant activity by using the agar diffusion method. Moreover, the minimal inhibitory concentration was gathered by broth dilution method. Then, the antitopoisomerase activity was analyzed through mutant strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and the mutagenic activity was observed using the Ames test.