Cervical cancer occurs more in females than males and needs more attention to treat the disease. Owing to the side effects by treatments in current use, scientists are working effortlessly in search of alternative medicines. Plants are a rich source of medicinally active substances that can perform significant pharmacological activities. So we aimed to analyse Boerhavia diffusa (BD) plant for its medicinal uses. Crude ethanolic extract of BD was analysed for phytochemical screening, antioxidant, and cytotoxicity assays. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, amino acids, terpenoids, phenols, anthraquinones, steroids, alkaloids, and carbohydrates. In vitro antioxidant activity by DPPH assay at varying concentrations of 20 µg/ml, 40 µg/ml, 60 µg/ml, 80 µg/ml, and 100 µg/ml showed percentage inhibition values of 8.4%, 13.8%, 26.1%, 30.7%, and 41%, respectively. Similarly, the reducing power assay revealed the percentage inhibition values as 25.8%, 48.3%, 66.7%, 75.8%, and 87.8% for the corresponding concentrations. Comparison of the IC50 values of BD extract obtained from both the assays (DPPH-19.1 µg/ml; reducing power-55µg/ml) revealed its strong antioxidant property as that of the standard (DPPH-21.3 µg/ml; reducing power-57.5 µg/ml). Cytotoxicity tests by MTT assay with various concentrations against SiHa cell line showed the best cell viability value of 47.1 % at 125 µg/ml concentration. The phytochemicals present in BD are responsible for imparting antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. Further studies might be useful to obtain key insights for exploring this plant as a contemporary medicine against cervical cancer.
