{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T18:53:30Z","timestamp":1788288810173,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]],"date-time":"2025-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755820800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Research Foundation, South Africa","award":["129263"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["129263"]}]},{"name":"National Research Foundation, South Africa","award":["120455"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["120455"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antioxidants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Erythrina caffra is a traditional plant used to treat cancer and inflammation. The study aimed to assess and isolate anticancer compounds from E. caffra bark. The plant material was extracted sequentially in n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging and 3-(4,5-di methyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays were used to evaluate the crude extracts\u2019 antioxidant and anticancer activities, respectively. Column chromatography was used to purify the potent extracts of the stem bark in order to isolate the bioactive compounds. The crude extracts of the E. caffra bark demonstrated antioxidant and anticancer activity, with the dichloromethane (DCM) extract producing the most favorable activity. Three compounds, namely Hexacosanyl isoferulate, Tetradecyl isoferulate, and 1-Heneicosanol, were detected in fractions from the DCM extract. All the isolated compounds showed significant anticancer potential, with the hydroxycinnamic acid compounds showing better anticancer effects in the cervical (HeLa) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cells. The compounds showed greater activity than even the standard drug, 5-fluorouracil, in the MCF-7 cells, with the tetradecyl isoferulate and hexacosanyl isoferulate fractions having IC50 values of 123.62 and 58.84 \u00b5g\/mL, respectively. The compounds were observed to be capable of triggering caspase cascade events, leading to apoptotic cell death. Overall, E. caffra extracts contained important bioactive compounds that induced apoptotic cell death in HeLa and MCF-7 tumor cells, warranting further investigations in vitro and in vivo.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antiox14091035","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]],"date-time":"2025-08-22T13:47:49Z","timestamp":1755870469000},"page":"1035","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Isolation, Characterization, Antioxidant and Anticancer Activities of Compounds from Erythrina caffra Stem Bark Extract"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0698-1711","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Femi","family":"Olawale","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Nano-Gene and Drug Delivery Group, Discipline of Biochemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7265-1377","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olusola","family":"Bodede","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biodiscovery Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0028, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mario","family":"Ariatti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nano-Gene and Drug Delivery Group, Discipline of Biochemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9985-6567","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Moganavelli","family":"Singh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Nano-Gene and Drug Delivery Group, Discipline of Biochemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X54001, Durban 4000, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1038\/35077256","article-title":"Cancer Epidemiology in the Last Century and the next Decade","volume":"411","author":"Peto","year":"2001","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"229","article-title":"Global Cancer Statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN Estimates of Incidence and Mortality Worldwide for 36 Cancers in 185 Countries","volume":"74","author":"Bray","year":"2024","journal-title":"CA A Cancer J. 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