Characterization of the Volatile and Nonvolatile Fractions of Heartwood Aqueous Extract from Pterocarpus marsupium and Evaluation of Its Cytotoxicity against Cancer Cell Lines

Pterocarpus marsupium is a well-known plant due to its healing properties, in particular, the use of its aqueous extract is able to reduce blood sugar levels and blood triglyceride concentrations. Although this plant has already been widely studied, a complete characterization of its aqueous extract has not been reported. The present study deals with the characterization of the aqueous extract of P. marsupium in order to obtain a full fingerprint of the volatile and nonvolatile constituents. The volatile constituents were identified by CG-MS, whereas the nonvolatile fraction was characterized by UHPLC-MS/MS using a nontarget approach. Several compounds were identified, in particular, polyphenolic species belonging to the class of proanthocyanidins. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out on four different cancer cell lines and three different non-tumoral cell lines. Preliminary results indicate a selective cytotoxicity of the aqueous extract towards the cancer cells. The potential cytotoxicity due to the presence of metals in the aqueous extract was ruled out by testing an aqueous mixture of the metals at the same concentration found in the P. marsupium extract.