Comparative bioactivity of lycopene from Carica papaya L. and Solanum lycopersicum L. on breast cancer cell lines

Abstract

Lycopene is a bright red carotenoid pigment naturally found in fruits and vegetables. It is abundantly present in the fruits of Carica papaya L. and Solanum lycopersicum L. It has significant antioxidant and anticancer activities. In the present study, the comparative cellular metabolic and cytotoxic activities of lycopene extracted from both fruits were tested using the MTT assay on the triple-negative human breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231). It was quantified by measuring absorbance at 570 nm using an ELISA plate reader at five different concentrations (6.25 µg/mL, 12.5 µg/mL, 25 µg/mL, 50 µg/mL, and 100 µg/mL). Cell morphology, cell viability, and cell proliferation were also recorded. The results revealed that cell viability decreases with an increase in concentration of both the test samples. The above findings indicate that lycopene from tomato showed maximum cytotoxic effect on the triple-negative breast cancer cell line (MDA-MB-231) as compared to lycopene from papaya.