Antioxidant and anticancer activities of <i>Manihot esculenta</i> Crantz peels extracts and its phytochemical analysis by GC-MS

Plants produce a wide range of natural compounds that possess various beneficial properties, including antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, antibacterial, and cytotoxic activities. The present study aims to investigate the phytochemicals by total phenolic content and GC-MS analysis and to evaluate the antioxidant and anticancer properties of the peels of <i>Manihot esculenta</i> Crantz. The total phenolic content in fractions A5 and E5, determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method, was remarkably high with values of 395.77 ± 0.65 mg GAE/g and 617.21 ± 0.62 mg GAE/g, respectively. In terms of antioxidant activity assessed by DPPH scavenging assay, fractions A3, A4, A5, E3, E5, E7 and E8 showed significant activity with IC<sub>50</sub> values of 385.83 ± 0.12, 507.87 ± 0.01, 504.69 ± 0.04, 537.56 ± 0.30, 534.04 ± 0.56, 552.78 ± 0.58 and 508.26 ± 0.33 µg/ml, respectively, compared to the standard IC<sub>50</sub> value of 555.00 ± 0.35 µg/ml. In addition, the acetone and ethanol extracts showed moderate cytotoxicity against lung cancer cells (H1792) in the MTT assay, with IC<sub>50</sub> values of 115.80 ± 2.57 µg/mL and 111.33 ± 2.25 µg/mL, respectively. GC-MS analysis of fractions A3 and E8 identified 6 and 11 components, respectively. The major component of fraction A3 was identified as 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid dinonyl ester (50.59%), while fraction E8 consisted mainly of n-hexadecanoic acid (17.45%). These results suggest that the peel extracts and specific fractions of <sub>M. esculenta</sub> Crantz. are rich in phenolics and exhibit promising antioxidant activity, making them suitable candidates for development into health-promoting products and medical cosmetics.