## 3 Results
### Antiproliferative Activity Screening of the Eight Medicinal Plants  
In a prescreening of the eight medicinal plants, we tested various concentrations of the plant extracts ranging from 10 to 320 ug\(\cdot\)mL\({}^{-1}\) against two cancer cell lines: Breast carcinoma MDA-MB231 and hepatocellular carcinoma HEPG2. For plant extract preparation, the parts used are mentioned in Table 1. After attachment, the cancer cell lines were treated with 0, 10, 40, 160, or 320 ug\(\cdot\)mL\({}^{-1}\) of plant extracts and maintained for the next 72 h to determine time-dependent effects. The results indicate that increasing concentrations of all plant extracts showed cell viability reduction in a concentration-dependent manner at all time points. Remarkably, most of these extracts were able to decrease cell viability by over 50% in both MDA-MBA231 and HEPG2 cancer cells as detected by alamarBlue assays. However, _Pyracantha_ and _Paullinia_ showed the maximum growth inhibition in both types of cancer cell models. The percentage of cell viability in comparison to the vehicle-treated control cells is shown in Figures 3 and 4. We also calculated the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC\({}_{50}\)) values of each plant extract against both MDA-MB231 and HEPG2 cancer cells. In the case of MDA-MB231 cells, the IC\({}_{50}\) values were as follows: _Paullinia_ (43.1\(\pm\)10.69 ug\(\cdot\)mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Saururus_ (47.46\(\pm\)5.78 ug\(\cdot\)mL\({}^{-1}\)),  
Figure 2: Analysis of phytochemical constituents in all eight plant extracts, including _Pyracantha_ _apsuifolia_ and _Paullinia cupana_. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of (**A**) _Quercus_, _Sorbus_, _Saururus_, and _Paulina_; and (**B**) _Dolonix_, _Colacasia_, _Ficus_, and _Pyracantha_. UV-Vis absorption spectra of (**C**) _Quercus_, _Sorbus_, _Saururus_, and _Paulina_; and (**D**) _Dolonix_, _Colacasia_, _Ficus_, and _Pyracantha_.  
Sorbus_ (45.5\(\pm\)22.90 \(\upmu\)m-L\({}^{-1}\)), _Quercus_ (56.00\(\pm\)15.61 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Pyracantha_ (21.91\(\pm\)2.10 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Ficus_ (47.93\(\pm\)17.92 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Colocasia_ (49.3\(\pm\)11.53 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), and _Delonix_ (76.08\(\pm\)18.96 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)). For HEPG2 cells, the IC\({}_{50}\) values were as follows: _Paullinia_ (32.57\(\pm\)7.60 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Saururus_ (42.50\(\pm\)7.58 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Sorbus_ (33.50\(\pm\)5.42 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Quercus_ (34.44\(\pm\)14.95 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Pyracantha_ (28.41\(\pm\)4.53 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Ficus_ (43.59\(\pm\)13.2 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), _Colocasia_ (39.46\(\pm\)7.29 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)), and _Delonix_ (34.59\(\pm\)3.45 \(\upmu\)g:mL\({}^{-1}\)). The IC\({}_{50}\) values confirm that _Pyracantha_ and _Paullinia_ showed the lowest IC\({}_{50}\) against both cancer cell types among all extracts tested (Supplementary Table S1). Since, the reduction in viability was not consistent with increasing concentration of plant extract. Therefore, our IC\({}_{50}\) values were higher, calculated from the Prism-based fit Spline, the smoothing curve fitting function, as expected from viability data results. Furthermore, when both these extracts were tested on normal MCF10A mammary cells, _Pyracantha_ and _Paullinia_ did not display any cell toxicity (Figure 5). These results suggest that _Pyracantha_ and _Paullinia_ may have high potential for the inhibition of cell growth against different cancer cell types without inducing much toxicity.