Abstract
Glucosinolates are a class of organic anions that can be hydrolyzed either enzymatically with myrosinase or non-enzymatically to form primarily isothiocyanates and/or nitriles. Investigation of the hydrolyzed glucosinolate products using GC-MS with natural autolysis and exogenous myrosinase enzymatic hydrolysis methods for the aerial parts and roots of Moricandia nitens, showed that the glucosinolate compounds; Ethyl isothiocyanate, Isobutyl isothiocyanate, 5-(methylthio)-4-pentene nitrile, 3-butenyl isothiocyanate, Allyl isothiocyanate, Benzyl isothiocyanate, 3-(Methyl thio) propyl isothiocyanate, 4-(methyl sulphonyl) butane nitrile and 3-(methyl sulphonyl) propyl isothiocyanate percentages were detected in both the aerial parts and roots, with relatively higher percentage in roots than that of the aerial parts, while 4-(methylthio) butanenitrile, 5-(methylthio) pentane nitrile and 4-Methylthio-3-butenyl isothiocyanate were higher percentages in the aerial parts than that of roots. The amount of total glucosinolates content in the aerial parts and roots were 1.7 and 2.1mg/gm, respectively. GC-MS analysis of the aerial parts and roots of M. nitens showed the presence of 50 phytochemical constituents for each part. When comparing the mass spectra of some bioactive constituents, with our detected compounds, the detected bioactive compounds were identified. It was noticed that, the amount of total terpens content of the aerial parts and roots of M. nitens were 2.72 and 5.04 mg/gm, respectively. Meanwhile the percentage of the total alkaloids were 0.02% for the aerial parts and roots of the plant. Cytotoxic activity for the aerial parts and roots of M. nitens (in vitro) against (HCT) showed remarkable cytotoxic activity at IC50=99.8 mu g/ml and 63 mu g/ml for aerial parts and roots, respectively, beside remarkable cytotoxic activity against (HEPG2) at IC50=153 mu g/ml and 200 mu g/ml for aerial parts and roots, respectively.