This study investigated the antioxidant activity, chemical composition, and preliminary screening of anticancer effects of Thappayathikhun (TPY) remedy extract, a traditional Thai medicine with white pepper as the primary component (50.05%). The extract is composed of 16 herbs. Three solvents were employed to prepare the extract: hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol. Ethanol yielded the highest extraction efficiency (7.04%), and demonstrated superior antioxidant activity in both DPPH and ABTS assays (IC50 = 56.54±0.37 and 51.69±1.03 μg/mL, respectively). The ethanol extract also showed the highest total phenolic content (67.00±2.09 mg GAE/g), while hexane extract exhibited the highest flavonoid content (48.86±1.21 mg QE/g). GC-MS analysis revealed piperine as the predominant compound (62.58-81.26%), along with significant quantities of cannabinoids including THC (4.76-8.40%) and CBN (1.20-1.85%). Other identified compounds included terpenoids, steroids, and lipids. Cytotoxicity studies against HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells demonstrated dose-dependent growth inhibition, with maximum effect at 10 μg/mL (38.58% cell survival). These findings suggest that TPY extract possesses significant antioxidant properties and potential anticancer activity against liver cancer cells, supporting its traditional therapeutic applications and warranting further investigation for modern medical applications.
Sripan et al. (Fri,) studied this question.