Phytochemical compositions and in vitro anticancer effects of ethanolic extracts from Syrian hawthorn fruit on the human breast cell line MDA-MB-231

Abstract Hawthorn is an important medicinal plant among other wide spread herbal species. Only few studies have been performed to exhibit therapeutic effects of hawthorn extracts on cancer cell lines. Herein, three types of hawthorn fruits were collected from different places in Syria, samples were air dried until reaching a constant dry weight and then powdered. Hawthorn bioactive compounds were extracted from the powder with absolute ethanol. Qualitative phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins and glycosides in the three types of hawthorn fruits. The red hawthorn contained anthracene derivatives, unlike both yellow and green hawthorns. FT-IR analysis revealed the presence of functional groups such as alcohols, alkanes, alkyl halides, aromatic groups and alkenes. UV‒Visible analysis represents the absorption spectrum and shows a broad absorption band at 350–400 nm and a peak at approximately 300 nm. Chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis showed 13, 5 and 22 chemical constituents representing an average of 100% in the EOs of yellow, green and red hawthorn respectively. Cell proliferation assessment results showed that hawthorn inhibits cell viability of MDA-MB-231 cancer cells lines, which was strongly related to increasing concentration of hawthorn.