In vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of phytochemical rich Dendrobium bicameratum Lindl. (Orchidaceae) leaf extracts against the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

Dendrobium bicameratum is a promising epiphytic orchid used by tribal healers of the Eastern Ghats to treat various ailments. However, the plant has not been studied for bioactive properties. The present study investigates the phytochemical composition, antioxidant and anticancer properties of D. bicameratum leaf extracts on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Fresh leaf material of the plant was cold-extracted using various solvents. Phytochemical screening has been performed using standard qualitative and quantitative tests to detect the presence of phytochemicals. Antioxidant potential of the leaf extracts was determined using DPPH and FRAP assays. The anticancer property of various concentrations of the leaf extract on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells has been evaluated using an MTT assay. Phytochemical profiling results showed that the D. bicameratum methanol leaf extract indicated the presence of all the tested phytochemicals. However, the flavonoids and tannins are present in higher amounts. The same leaf extract displayed good antioxidant activity in both DPPH (IC50=17.46±0.60 μg/mL) and FRAP (EC50=101.12±0.94 μg/mL) assays. Furthermore, in the MTT assay, the above-mentioned extract reduced the viability of MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner (IC50=3.84±0.62 μg/mL). Pearson correlation analysis showed that both antioxidant and anticancer activities were strongly concentration-dependent, with methanol and ethyl acetate leaf extracts showing high positive correlation coefficients (r=0.95–0.99) and significant p-values (p<0.05). This confirms that increasing leaf extract concentration consistently enhanced their free-radical scavenging, reducing power, and cytotoxic effects. Therefore, leaf extracts of D. bicameratum have notable antioxidant and anticancer potential, suggesting that they may serve as a reserve of bioactive metabolites of natural origin for breast cancer treatment.