Didem AKSU, Sevda GÜZEL KARA
Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Pharmacy - 2026;46(2):149-155
The genus Vincetoxicum Wolf (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae), naturally distributed across Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe, comprises approximately 140 species. Species within this genus have been used in traditional medicine to treat wounds, fractures, inflammation, and envenomations from snake, insect, and scorpions. Vincetoxicum is one of the most species-rich genera of the subfamily in Anatolia. Vincetoxicum fuscatum subsp. fuscatum is known as "dağ biberi, gâvur üzerliği, and gâvur biberi" in Turkey. This research focused on analyzing ethanol extract from seeds of V. fuscatum subsp. fuscatum, to assess its phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant activity, and cytotoxic profile. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents, along with antioxidant activity, were studied using the Folin-Ciocalteu, AlCl3, and DPPH assays, respectively. Cytotoxicity was tested on HaCaT cell line using the MTT assay. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity were 7.42 +/- 0.04 mg GAE/g seed; 3.08 +/- 0.01 mg QE/g seed; and 27.3 +/- 0.01% inhibition, equivalent to 0.26 +/- 0.06 mM AAE/g seed, respectively. All tested concentrations of the extract (0.25-1 mg/mL) did not exhibit any cytotoxic effect on the HaCaT cell line. This is the first study to investigate the total phenolic and total flavonoid contents, as well as the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of V. fuscatum subsp. fuscatum seeds.
