Liposomal Ficus carica latex and ficin effects on human colon cancer cell line.

BACKGROUND: Challenges such as metabolic instability, short half-life, poor absorption, and low bioavailability are faced by natural drug candidates, particularly in complex plant-derived extracts like fig latex, which contains multiple bioactive compounds that complicate standardization and encapsulation. This research was conducted to investigate the impact of liposome encapsulation on HT-29 human colon cancer cell line, using commercially sourced ficin and latex samples from the Sari Lop and Aydin Black fig cultivars. Ficin and fig latices were encapsulated through thin-film hydration, and their characteristic properties were analyzed. The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of the prepared liposomes were also examined on the HT-29 cells. RESULTS: The polydispersity indices and zeta potentials of liposomes were consistent with those reported in the literature, although their sizes were larger than the desired range. Encapsulation efficiency percentage (EE%) values were relatively low, ranging from 15.5% to 23.0%, indicating that a significant portion of ficin and fig latices remained unencapsulated. This lower EE% may have contributed to the observed reduction in cytotoxicity in the encapsulated formulations. Unencapsulated ficin and fig latices showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity (P < 0.05), while encapsulation significantly suppressed the toxicity, likely due to limited immediate bioavailability and controlled release. Apoptosis results, normalized to the cytotoxicity data, also showed dose-dependency (P < 0.05) especially for Aydin Black fig latex. The significant differences in apoptosis between the 35 mg L(-1) of encapsulated and unencapsulated Aydin Black fig latex treatments at 24 and 48 h (P = 0.000 and P = 0.012, respectively) further suggest that liposomal encapsulation modulates both cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction, potentially reducing off-target effects while maintaining bioactivity. CONCLUSION: It has been determined that liposomal encapsulation significantly suppresses the cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects of ficin and fig latices. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.