GC–MS Analysis and In Vitro Evaluation of Antioxidant and Cytotoxic Activities of Melaleuca viminalis (Myrtaceae)

Melaleuca viminalis is a medicinal shrub used in traditional medicine globally for the treatment of numerous diseases. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry results revealed the presence of 23 phytoconstituents in methanolic extract. The chemical fractionation of the methanolic extract (ME) using n- hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n- butanol, and water was prepared and analyzed for phytochemical content and bioactivity. Ethyl acetate fraction was found to contain the highest phenolic and flavonoid contents (4.81 ± 0.01 mg GAE/ and 3.32 ± 0.03 mg QUR/, respectively), in vitro antioxidant radical scavenging activity DPPH with value 97.1 ± 0.61%, FRAP activity 4048 ± 0.13 μM Trolox/g, comparable with the standard Trolox, and showed the highest anticancer activity against two different human cancer cells A549 and HepG2 (97 ± 5.3 and 98 ± 3.8%, respectively). Results of this study displayed that ethyl acetate (EA) fraction of M. viminalis are the rich source of phenolics and other compounds that can play a significant role in preventing the progression of many diseases.