{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T20:17:58Z","timestamp":1772569078559,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,1,8]],"date-time":"2018-01-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1515369600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst (Anacardiaceae) is a savannah tree that has long been used in sub-Saharan Africa as a medicinal remedy for numerous ailments. The purpose of this study was to increase the scientific knowledge about this plant by evaluating the total content of polyphenols, flavonoids, and tannins in the methanol extracts of the leaves and bark (MLE and MBE, respectively), as well as the in vitro antioxidant activity and biological activities of these extracts. Reported results show that MLE is rich in flavonoids (132.7 \u00b1 10.4 mg of quercetin equivalents\/g), whereas MBE has the highest content of tannins (949.5 \u00b1 29.7 mg of tannic acid equivalents\/g). The antioxidant activity was measured using four different in vitro tests: \u03b2-carotene bleaching (BCB), 2,2\u2032-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), O2\u2212\u2022, and nitric oxide (NO\u2022) assays. In all cases, MBE was the most active compared to MLE and the standards used (Trolox and ascorbic acid). Furthermore, MBE and MLE were tested to evaluate their activity in HepG2 and fibroblast cell lines. A higher cytotoxic activity of MBE was evidenced and confirmed by more pronounced alterations in cell morphology. MBE induced cell death, triggering the intrinsic apoptotic pathway by reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, which led to a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential with subsequent cytochrome c release from the mitochondria into the cytosol. Moreover, MBE showed lower cytotoxicity in normal human dermal fibroblasts, suggesting its potential as a selective anticancer agent.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms19010186","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,1,8]],"date-time":"2018-01-08T12:26:02Z","timestamp":1515414362000},"page":"186","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":42,"title":["A Comparative Study on Phytochemical Profiles and Biological Activities of Sclerocarya birrea (A.Rich.) Hochst Leaf and Bark Extracts"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Daniela","family":"Russo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Basilicata, Department of Science, V.le dell\u2019AteneoLucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Rocchina","family":"Miglionico","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Basilicata, Department of Science, V.le dell\u2019AteneoLucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Monica","family":"Carmosino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Basilicata, Department of Science, V.le dell\u2019AteneoLucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Faustino","family":"Bisaccia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Basilicata, Department of Science, V.le dell\u2019AteneoLucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9764-3920","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paula","family":"Andrade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"REQUIMTE\/LAQV, Laborat\u00f3rio de Farmacognosia, Departamento de Qu\u00edmica, Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade do Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, n\u00ba 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0740-4396","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patr\u00edcia","family":"Valent\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"REQUIMTE\/LAQV, Laborat\u00f3rio de Farmacognosia, Departamento de Qu\u00edmica, Faculdade de Farm\u00e1cia, Universidade do Porto, R. Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, n\u00ba 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5874-1237","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luigi","family":"Milella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Basilicata, Department of Science, V.le dell\u2019AteneoLucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Armentano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Basilicata, Department of Science, V.le dell\u2019AteneoLucano, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,1,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3670","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbagen.2013.02.008","article-title":"Natural products: A continuing source of novel drug leads","volume":"1830","author":"Cragg","year":"2013","journal-title":"Biochim. Biophys. 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