GLORIOSA SUPERBA L. – AN ENDANGERED PLANT OF TAMILNADU, YET TO BE EXPLORED AND NEED TO BE CONSERVED

Gloriosa superba L. is commonly being called as glory lily. This perennial climber is designated as the State flower of Tamilnadu. It is extensively cultivated for colcichine, an alkaloid obtained from the seed being exploited for its medicinal properties. The present investigation on this climber was started with an intention to bring out the biomedical potentials with special reference to its anticancer properties. The plant was extracted with methanol and ethyl acetate using Soxhlet extraction unit and the extract was concentrated using vacuum rotavapor. The presence of 15 different compounds in methanol fraction and 1 compound in ethyl acetate fraction were determined by GC-MS. Extensive literature survey suggested that few records was available on anticancer properties of Gloriosa superba L. Hence, an attempt was made to evaluate its anticancer potentials The IC50 value of the compound against MCF7 cell line was found to be 84.23μg/mL.