Phytochemical and Biological Investigation of Ipomoea carnea Jacq. Grown in Egypt

Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the leaves and flowers of Ipomoea carnea Jacq. were carried out using FolinCiocalteu's and aluminum chloride assays, respectively. Resulted in 6.59 and 9.37 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g. dry wt. and 1.336% and 0.885% rutin equivalent (RE)/g for leaves and flowers, respectively. The concentration of rutin and βsitosterol in leaves and flowers extracts of I. carnea were also estimated by HPLC analysis resulting in 9.174 and 2.733 mg/g dry wt. (rutin) and 0.463, 17.085 mg/g dry wt. (β-sitosterol) for leaves and flowers, respectively. Chromatographic separation of the leaves and flowers ethanol extracts led to the isolation of a new biflavonoid compound: 3, 3, 5, 5, 7, 7-O-β-D-glucosyl-4, 4-biflavonoyl ether [4-O-4 Bis-isoquercetin] (Ipomoeflavoside) from leaves and other four known compounds namely; caffeoyl ethyl ester, caffeic acid, rutin, lycopene isolated for the first time from leaves and βsitosterol from flowers. The leaves and flowers ethanol extracts showed antioxidant, antihyperglycemic and hepatoprotective activities. They were also evaluated for their anticancer and antimicrobial activities. The ethanol leaves extract showed the highest cytotoxic activity against the breast cancer cell line, with (IC50: 7.4 μg/ml) while it showed weak cytotoxic effect on liver and colon cancer cell lines (IC50:23 and 35 μg/ml) respectively, The ethanol flowers extract showed weak or no anticancer cytotoxic activity against the tested cancer cell lines. The leaves and flowers ethanol extracts showed significant antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus pneumonia, Bacillus subtillis, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus fumigatus while showing no activity against Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aeurginosa.