Unveiling the anticancer efficacy of Rauwolfia serpentina and Rauwolfia tetraphylla herbal nanopowders

Plants have been utilized for medicinal purposes globally due to their superior therapeutic value and current trends 
promote the utilization of natural products in healthcare. The implementation of nanotechnology in healthcare has led 
to the creation of an innovative drug delivery system. The shortcomings of conventional herbal medications are 
addressed by plant-based nanopowders, which show promising results in pharmacological and biological applications. 
Two significant therapeutic plants that are members of the Apocyanaceae family are Rauwolfia serpentina, often known 
as Sarpagandha, and Rauwolfia tetraphylla. They have long been used in traditional Indian medicine to cure a number 
of ailments. Numerous phytochemicals, including alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, steroids, tannins and alcohols are 
abundant in both of these plants. Phytosynthesized nanopowders have promising biomedical and pharmaceutical 
applications. Thus, for the first time in our current study, we have used a mechanical technique of high energy ball 
milling to create nanopowder from shade-dried roots and leaves of our experimental plants without the use of 
hazardous chemicals. Ball mill-produced nanopowders are studied using a variety of techniques, including Fourier 
transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and UV-VIS spectroscopy. The 
cytotoxic activity of methanolic nanopowder extracts of Rauwolfia serpentina root and Rauwolfia tetraphylla leaf was 
assessed using the MTT test against three distinct cell lines: A549 (Human Lung Cancer Cell line), HCT 116 (Human 
Colon Cancer Cell line) and HL 60 (Human Acute Leukemia Cell line) and compared to ascertain their potential.