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medicinal plants that could be used as drug leads have been emphasized considering the

current challenges of precise medication.
Previous studies have reported the role of phenolic and flavonoid compounds present

in fruits, vegetables and herbal products in deterring more than 20% of cancer incidence
through induction of apoptosis, anti-angiogenesis, chemopreventive effects etc [9,10].

Amongst, phenoxodiol, flavopiridol, daidzein, combrestatin and camptothecin have found
clinical application as potential anticancer agents [11,12]. These phenolic and flavonoid

compounds helped in the activation of tumor suppressor genes (p21 and p27) and also

increased the efficiency of chemotherapy in cancer treatments through inactivation of stress-
activated protein kinase c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) 1 [9,13]. In the present study, we

perform photochemical analysis and evaluation of free radical scavenging or antioxidant

potential of S. acmella. Anticancer effect of different parts of the plant was also determined
on multiple human cancer cell lines. Further screening of bioactive compounds present in the

plant was performed by using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Moreover,
functional roles of principle bioactive compounds identified to be present in the plant have

also been discussed with respect to traditional application of the plant for treatment of
diseases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sample preparations
The plant samples were collected from Doiwala, Uttarakhand (Latitude:

30°09ʹ23.1ʺN; Longitude: 078°07ʹ01.0ʺE) in the Northern part of India and authenticated by
Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Dehradun (Acc. No. 118066). The plant was segregated into

leaves, flowers and stems (Fig. 1); then washed, dried and ground into homogenized
powders. The fine sample powders were subsequently extracted with methanol using Soxhlet

and concentrated into amorphous solid forms under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator

(R-100; Buchi) for further analysis i.e Leaf Extract (LE), Flower Extract (FE) and Stem
Extract (SE).

Antioxidant Assays

ABTS Assay
2,2'-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging

assay for measuring antioxidant activity was performed by adopting the method described
•+
earlier by Hazra et al. (2008) with a slight modification [14]. ABTS solution (radical) was
generated by mixing ABTS solution with potassium persulfate (K2S2O8) and incubating it
•+
overnight in dark at room temperature. The absorbance of the ABTS solution was

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