In vitro anticancer activity of the aerial parts and the fruit seeds of Ecballium elaterium

ABSTRACT

The fruit seeds and the aerial parts of the squirting cucumber, Ecballium elaterium were subjected to anticancer bioassay in vitro against eight tumor cell lines using the MTT-assay technique. The activity of these parts was compared with those of the reference standards, cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin. The aerial parts of E. elaterium exhibited moderate anticancer activity against most of the cell lines used, whereas, the fruit seeds showed no anticancer activity against the cell lines used in the present study. The significance of the results is discussed