Bioactivities studies of different plant parts of Costus woodsonii Maas with emphasis on the rhizome

Costus woodsonii belongs to the Costaceae family. Although this family is well-reported to have diverse pharmacological activities at different plant parts, there has been no report of bioactivities study on C. woodsonoii. The aim of this study was to study this plant for antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activity. After bioactivity screening, our study demonstrated that C. woodsonii rhizome has strong cytotoxic activity due to the presence of compound dioscin. The mechanism of action of dioscin on cancer cells was studied and the findings of this study suggest that dioscin could be a potential candidate drug in the treatment of oral cancer.