A Study on Biologically Active Components in <i>Morinda citrifolia</i> Leaf Extract and its Anti-cancer Effect by <i>In Vitro</i> Analysis and <i>In Silico</i> Molecular Docking Method

Abstract

Nowadays, most antiviral drugs are plant-based due to their low toxicity and high resistance. Morinda citrifolia (Noni) is such a perennial shrub a popular plant based medicine due to its wide therapeutic applications. The phytochemicals present in its fruit as well as its leaf have many antiviral properties and can enhance the human immune system. Herein, we report the identification of bioactive components present in the Morinda citrifolia (Noni) ethanolic leaf extract by GC-MS analysis and their biological interaction with human parallel-stranded 7-mer g-quadruplex DNA of MCF-7 using Biovia Discovery Studio software. In vitro analysis by MTT assay of the same extract reported a living cells of 59.74% at 100 µg/ml. The GC-MS analysis of ethanolic leaf extract revealed the presence of 27 bioactive components, and out of these, six major components were interacted with cancer DNA. The molecular docking interaction identified the most active bio component Phytol, with a binding energy of -27.0796 Kcal/mol. this value is much better than the commercially available doxorubicin. This novel study will provide insight into the development of bioactive components from Morinda citrifolia leaf extract against human breast cancer with minimal side effects.