Naringenin and Ellagic Acid Reduce Tetrazolium Salt in the Absence of Cells

Background: Plant derived compounds, naringenin and ellagic acid might interfere in MTT (3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide) assay in the form of reducing the tetrazolium salt in the absence of cells. Objective: Effect of naringenin and ellagic acid in MTT assay. Methods: MTT assay has been performed in different conditions like, varying the concentration of phytocompounds, incubation time, and changing the media. Results: Ellagic acid at the concentration of 80 μg/ml showed maximum absorbance of 0.579 in the presence of RPMI media (Roswell Park Memorial Institute Medium) that has 10% newborn calf serum. Naringenin showed higher absorbance of 2.74 at 80 μg/ml in RPMI media that has 10% newborn calf serum. Naringenin and Ellagic acid had better ability to reduce the MTT in the presence of RPMI media than anhydrous ethanol. Conclusion: Naringenin reduced the MTT better than ellagic acid in RPMI-1640 medium. These results show the need to be cautious when choosing MTT assay to measure the metabolic activity of cells treated with phytocompounds.