Phenolic Acid LC/MS Profile of Chenopodium rubrum and Evaluation of Cytotoxic Activity

The phenolic acids content of methanolic extracts before and after acidic hydrolysis of different morphological parts of Chenopodium rubrum was determined by LC-ESI-MS/MS. Overall eleven phenolic acids were detected and quantified. The most common were p-coumaric, ferulic and salicylic acids, which were present in all analyzed extracts. Gallic, caffeic, vanillic, syringic and sinapic acids were found in bound forms. Gentisic acid was most abundant in roots (3.7 mg/100g d.w.), syringic acid in stalks (2.9 mg/100 g d.w.), ferulic acid in leaves (6.0 mg/100g d.w.), and protocatechuic acid in seeds (2.3 mg/100g d.w.). The highest concentration of examined acids was found in leaves (19.1 mg/100g d.w.) and roots (10.0 mg/100g d.w.). Cytotoxic activity of extracts was tested against human cancer cell lines HTB 140, WM 793, Du 145 and normal PNT2 cells. Only the seed extract showed activity against malignant melanoma WM 793 cell line (69.6 ± 0.7% of dead cells at 100 μg/mL).