Potential anticancer activity of young Carpinus betulus leaves

As part of our continuing research for anticancer compounds from the Walloon Region forest, EtOAc extract from Carpinus betulus leaves was phytochemically studied, leading to the bioguided isolation of pheophorbide a, which is responsible of anticancer properties of C. betulus young leaves. This compound was identified using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrophotometric data and comparison with a commercial standard. Evaluation of the growth inhibitory activities of pheophorbide a using MTT colorimetric assay and phase-contrast microscopy in various human cancer cell lines confirmed the photoactivable properties of this compound. Our research showed, for the first time, the presence of pheophorbide a, a chlorophyll derived compound, which we quantified in high quantities in young leaves of C. betulus. This is in contrast with the literature which generally describes pheophorbide a as a catabolic product of chlorophyll, then preferentially present in old leaves.