Influence of Geographical and Seasonal Variations on Carbazole Alkaloids Distribution in Murraya koenigii: Deciding Factor of Its In Vitro and In Vivo Efficacies against Cancer Cells

Murraya koenigii is a well-known Indian medicinal herb, and a carbazole alkaloid (mahanine) from this plant causes apoptosis in cancer cells. Here, we investigated how seasonal and geographical variations influence carbazole alkaloids composition and medicinal property of this plant against cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Leaflets were collected from various places in different seasons for three years. A mahanine-enriched fraction (MEF) was prepared in two steps using ethanol and water. The best plant was selected based on the highest percent of mahanine. MEF prepared from leaflets of nine different locations showed a different concentration of identified markers (mahanine, mahanimbine, and koenimbine) which exhibited differential reduced metabolic activity against ovarian cancer, mahanine being the best. Our systematic study revealed that mahanine content was highest during September–December. Interestingly, MEF from southern part (tropical zone) exhibited 43 ± 2.5% mahanine compared to 2.7 ± 1.3% in northeastern part (subtropical zone) with five folds higher activity against PA1. Moreover, MEF reduced metabolic activity of sixteen cancer cell lines from nine different origins and significantly reduced tumor mass in lung and ovarian cancer xenograft models. Taken together, this is the first report demonstrating the marker's content in these leaflets is highly dependent on location/season. A positive correlation between biological activity and mahanine concentration was established in MEF. Such a comprehensive study suggests that the selection of location and suitable season for collection of any plant materials with biologically active stable markers in sufficient quantity play a decisive role in determining the fate of their medicinal property.