Phytochemical and cytotoxic properties of Solanum aethiopicum fruit extracts against HeLa human cervical cancer cell line

Eggplant, also known as Solanum aethiopicum (S. aethiopicum), is a highly favoured vegetable globally and belongs to the Solanaceae family. Various research studies have provided evidence of African eggplant's biological properties, such as antioxidant potential, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, liver-protective, and renal-protective effects. Therefore, our investigation focused on examining the impact of S. aethiopicum on the cytotoxicity of HeLa cells, which are derived from human cervical cancer. Fruits were freeze-dried or oven-dried before being subjected to aqueous infusion or hot aqueous extraction. Hot aqueous extracted (oven-dried) samples contained the highest concentration of total phenol and flavonoids. After that, HeLa cells were treated with hot aqueous extracts. After a 24-hour incubation period, the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) test was conducted. According to the cytotoxicity analysis, neither oven-dried nor freeze-dried induced significant inhibitory effects towards HeLa cell proliferation. These findings suggest that both extracts demonstrated weak cytotoxic effects on cervical cancer cells.