Asian Journal of Research in Botany

The use of herbal medicines produced from plants and herbs, as one element of complementary and alternative medicine, is still increasing worldwide. In this study, Piper betle L. leaf in two states, fresh and dried, was tested to explore its compounds and total phenolic and flavonoid contents. From there evaluated its antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities In vitro. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is a method for identifying compounds (GC-MS). The total phenolic content was measured by using Folin-Ciocalteu method and the total flavonoid content was based on a complex formation with AlCl₃. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH. The cytotoxic activity was performed against MCF-7, Hela, and SK-LU-1 cancer cell lines using sulforhodamine B assay. Toxicity testing for normal cells was also investigated. Results show the dried betel leaf extract (DBLE) contains eugenol (37.56%) as the primary compound, while 2.5-dimethylbenzoic acid (89.58%) was the primary compound in fresh betel leaf extract (FBLE). The extracts are rich polyphenols and flavonoids and have strong antioxidant activity. The polyphenol content in DBLE (240.9 mg GAE/g) is higher than FBLE (165.2 mg GAE/g). Especially, the DBLE has shown significant DPPH scavenging activity (IC₅₀ = 3.21 µg/mL) when compared with standard ascorbic acid (IC₅₀ = 6.71 µg/mL) and FBLE (IC₅₀ = 22.97 µg/mL). The cytotoxic activity of FBLE against MCF-7 and Hela cell lines shows IC₅₀ value above 50 µg/mL, while DBLE shows IC₅₀ value of 21.88 µg/mL and 26.68 µg/mL, respectively, with no difference for the SK-LU-1 line (IC₅₀ values from 35.0 to 38.0 μg/mL). There is a positive correlation between the phenolic content, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities of the extracts. In conclusion, DBLE exhibits higher antioxidant and cytotoxic activities than FBLE.