EVALUATION OF THE NUTRACEUTICAL, ANTI-LEISHMANIA AND ANTICANCER POTENTIAL OF CITRUS LIMON PEEL EXTRACTS

Citrus belongs to the family Rutaceae and comprises different plants and fruits. The Citrus limon peel consists of rich nutrient values, i.e., essential oil and compounds, which can be used as anticancer and antimicrobial agents. The present study has explored the concept of nutraceutical, antileishmanial, and anticancer activities of Citrus limon peel. The samples of local and hybrid Citrus limon were collected from the district of Mardan. The lemon peel was extracted and dried at room temperature. After drying, the lemon peel was ground to obtain fine powder. Powders of both types of lemon peel were soaked in methanol at room temperature for 15-21 days. Powdered extracts were analyzed for the presence of different active ingredients, i.e., alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids, and tannins. The result of digestibility revealed that hybrid lemon was high in dry matter, Ash, crude proteins, fiber, and lower fat. The preliminary phytochemical study revealed that alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids, and tannins were found in both local and hybrid lemon. The findings of EDX represent that the CK was 65.82 % and 67.51 % of the atomic weights for the CK, while 32.54% and 30.62 had been taken in the OK. The FTIR results showed that functional groups are present in both local and hybrid lemon peels. The alkane and amines are present in local and hybrid lemon peels, while ketones and tertiary alcohols are present in local lemon peels, and carboxylic acid and amine groups are present in hybrid lemon peels. The MTT assay showed that the methanolic extracts of hybrid and local Citrus limon peel were more efficacious than aqueous and chloroform extracts in suppressing promastigotes L. major and L. tropica, while the aqueous extracts showed the lowest activity against promastigotes L. major and L. tropica in both cases. Overall, the activity of berberine and hybrid Citrus limon peel was much higher than the activity of local Citrus limon peel. The anticancer potential of different solvent-based lemon peel extracts against the HepG2 cell line was evaluated after 48 hours. The extracts of lemon peel in four different solvents, including methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and chloroform, were compared. In the case of lemon peel chloroform extract, the highest inhibition (65.93 percent) was seen at a concentration of 100ug/ml, but in the case of lemon peel ethyl acetate extract, it was 61.75 percent at a concentration of 200ug/ml. On the other hand, it is quite evident that hybrid lemon peel extract dissolved in various solvents (methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and chloroform) showed significantly reduced cytotoxicity against HeLa cancer cells in comparison to wild-type lemon peel extract. The study concludes that C. lemon extract can be used for better treatment of different anticancer and antileishmaniasis assays.