Sapodilla Plum (Achras sapota) Induces Apoptosis in Cancer Cell Lines and Inhibits Tumor Progression in Mice

Sapota fruit (Achras sapota) originated in the central American rain forests, spread across  the tropical belt, and is grown commercially in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia. Different components of the Sapota plant such as saponins and triterpenoids have been used in folk medicine and are known to exhibit anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, analgesic and spermicidal activities. Importantly, chemical constituents such as flavonoids, polyphenols, dihydromyrecetin, quercitin, myricitrin, catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin and gallic acid have been isolated from fruits. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore and the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bangalore (India) completed a study using different human cancer cell lines and mice induced to develop breast cancer to test and verify the efficacy of the sapota fruit extract in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation.  In the case of human cells, the anti-tumor potency was pronounced in the case of leukemia. Of the two different human leukemia cancer cell lines studied, the effect was pronounced in one of them (NALM6). The viability was “significantly affected” in these cell lines after 48 hours of treatment at extract concentrations of 1 mg/ml onwards.  Notably, the team observed an approximate three-fold fold increase in lifespan in at least in 50% of the mice,when tumor bearing mice were treated Sapota extracts. The study authors submit that: suggest that [methanolic extracts of Sapota fruit] treatment leads to activation of mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis.”