Enhancing Anticancer Efficacy: The Combined Effects of Bidara (Ziziphus mauritiana) and Ciplukan (Physalis angulata) Leaf Extracts with Prayer Water on MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells Through Phytotherapy and Cultural Practices

Abstract

This study evaluated the in vitro cytotoxic activity of Bidara (Ziziphus mauritiana) and Ciplukan (Physalis angulata) leaf extracts, individually and in combination with prayer-infused water, on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, together with phytochemical screened for alkoloids, flavonoids, saponins, phenols, and tannins, and antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH radical-scavenging assay. Cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay at 1500 and 2000 µg/mL over 24, 48, and 72 hours of exposure. Prayer-infused water was incoparated at 7% in the reported combination treatment.Qualitative screening detected alkaloids, phenols, and tannins in both extracts, whereas saponins were detected in Siplukan but not in Bidara. Flavonoids were not detected under the qualitative test conditions used. The reported DPPH  values were  for Bidara and  for Ciplukan extracts with 7% prayer-infused water produced a reported viability of 34.6% at 72 hours at the 1500 µg/mL condition. However, the present experimental design does not provide sufficient dose-response information or a formal combination-analysis model to establish pharmacological synergy. The findings are therefore interpreted as preliminary evidence of combined or enhanced activity rather than definitive synergy. Further studies should include expanded dose-response matrices, formal combination analysis, normal-cell controls, chemical characterization, mechanistic assays, and in vivo validation before any therapeutic implications are considered.