Polyphenols from Prunus mume : extraction, purification, and anticancer activity.

is an ancient medicinal herb and food that are commonly used in Asian countries with high nutritional ingredients and biological activities. Polyphenols are important functional components in . To obtain a more efficient extraction process of polyphenols, a single-factor test and response surface method were used. After extraction and purification, the final polyphenol content of (L) was up to 90%. Biological experiments showed that L had high anticancer activity against HeLa (125.28 μg mL), HepG2 (117.24 μg mL), MCF-7 (170.19 μg mL), and A549 (121.78 μg mL) by MTT assay. The combination of DDP and DOX significantly enhanced the anticancer activity of the four cell lines, especially L-DOX had the smallest IC value of 0.04 μg mL against HepG2 cells, indicating the combination of drugs had synergistic effects. It is further demonstrated that L could inhibit cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis with ROS detection and confocal fluorescence images. The relative tumor proliferation rate (T/C) was 40.6%, and the tumor inhibition rate was 57.9%, indicating L to have no significant toxicity but high anti-HepG2 activity . Although the study is very limited, it is anticipated to provide a reference for further exploration of the functionality of the plant.