Antimutagenic and cytotoxic potential of Punica granatum L. and Opuntia ficus-indica L. peels

Introduction: This study pointed to validate the phytochemistry, antioxidant and antimutagenic activities of two common plant peels; Punica granatum L. and Opuntia ficus-indica L.Material and methods: HPLC analysis was performed for identification of phenolics and flavonoids, beside to isolation of some triterpenes and phenolics from both plant peels.Results: P. granatum peels composed of 16 flavonoids and 18 phenolics, while O. ficus-indica comprised of 18 flavonoids and 10 phenolics. α-Amyrin acetate (1), friedelin (2), lup-20(29)-en-3β-ol (3), quercetin-3,4'-dimethyl ether-7-O-α-Larabinofuranosyl β-D-glucopyranoside (4), punicaflavanol (5), and two hydrolyzabl tannins (6&7) were isolated from P. granatum peels, while friedelin (8), 24-Methylene-ergosta-5-en-3β-ol (9), apigenin-7-O-glucoside (10), isorhamnetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (11), and betanin pigment (12) were isolated from O. ficus-indica peels. Compounds (1-5 and 8, 10, 11, 12) were isolated for the first time from both plant peels. P. granatum and O. ficus-indica peel extracts have relatively significant antioxidant, cytotoxic and antimutagenic effects.Discussion and conclusion: The tested plant peel extracts could be a reliable source as natural antioxidant, antimutagenic and cytotoxic agents with a high level of safety. The novelty of this study is the comparison of such activities of the peels under study.