Effect of cultivation practice on the phytochemical profile and biological activity of aqueous ethanol extracts of Chelidonium majus L.

Chelidonium majus is a valuable medicinal plant traditionally used to treat gastric, liver, and skin diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate how cultivation affects both the phytochemical composition and the cytotoxic activity of aqueous ethanol extracts of C. majus. The extracts were prepared from aerial parts of wild-grown and cultivated specimens. LC/MS methods were used to analyze the qualitative and quantitative composition of alkaloids and flavonoid derivatives. The cytotoxic activities of the C. majus extracts were determined in B16-F10, HepG2, and CaCo-2 cells. The total content of alkaloids in extracts prepared from cultivated C. majus was significantly higher than that of wild samples. Coptisine was the dominant compound in wild- grown C. majus extracts, however, chelidonine was found to be the dominant alkaloid after cultivation. C. majus cultivation did not significantly affect the total content of flavonol glycosides, however, the content of both rutin and isorhamnetin 3-O-rutinoside showed clear tendencies of increase. The extracts prepared from cultivated specimens showed higher cytotoxicity than the extracts from wild-grown plants. HepG2 and CaCo-2 cells were less sensitive than melanoma cells. The observed differences in the phytochemical composition of the C. majus extracts resulted in a significant increase in cytotoxic activity.