Cytotoxicity study of Ferula hermonis Boiss

Ferula hermonis Boiss (Apiaceae) is known in the Midleast as 'zallouh'. In the last decade, scientists paid attention to study chemistry and biological activity of the plant. In this study Ferula hermonis were collected and evaluated for cytotoxic activity. The plant was extracted using different polarity solvents: petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol. The cytotoxic effect of the extracts was examined in-vitro on human cell line (stomach cancer cell line, SCL-40). The assay was based on incubation of tetrazolium dye (MTT; a yellow water-soluble tetrazolium dye that is reduced by live, but not dead cells) with the cells that pre-incubated with a tested substance. A purple formazan product that produced can be determined spectrophotometrically. The result confirmed that the SCL-40 cells were much more sensitive to the petroleum extract than other extracts, which showed the prominent cytotoxicity. The plant showed pronounced cytotoxic activity will be further evaluated for the possible isolation of active antitumour compounds.