Pimenta dioica [(L)Merr] is termed allspice fruit, and they are in the form of driedunripe berries. Allspice fruit is also called Jamaican pepper, pimenta, or Newspice.It was a native plant from the Caribbean island Jamaica; P. dioica belongs to thefamily Myrtaceae (Zhang and Lokeshwar 2012). Scientific research on Pimentadioica revealed that it has aromatic constituents of Pimenta leaves, and its unripeberries, allspice, paved the way for the discovery of many and novel aromatic compounds,mostly glycosides and polyphenols, that show antibacterial, hypotensive,anti-neuralgic and analgesic properties (Zhang and Lokeshwar 2012). It wasreported that the identification of the aqueous allspice extract (AAE) as an anti-cancerformulation against prostate cancer and also identified an active ingredientnamely Ericifolin (Eugenol 5-O-β-galloylglucopyranoside) from AAE that inhibitstranscription of androgen receptor mRNA (Shamaladevi et al. 2013). Zhang et al.(2015) tested the effect of AAE against TNBC in vitro and in vivo. It was reportedthat AAE reduced the MDA-MB-231 cell viability and clonogenic growth of severaltypes of BrCa cells (IC50 ≤ 100 μg/ml) with minimal toxicity in non-tumorigeniccells. AAE-induced cytotoxicity in MDA-MB-231 cells was inconsistent with apoptosisbut was associated with increased levels of autophagy markers light chain(LC3B) and LC3B-positive puncta. They also showed silencing the expression ofautophagy-related genes (ATGs) prevented AAE-induced apoptosis. Further, AAEcaused inhibition of Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling andshowed enhanced cytotoxicity when combined with rapamycin, a chemotherapydrug and an inhibitor of mTOR signaling. Oral administration of AAE into athymicnude mice inoculated with MDA-MB231 tumours inhibited tumour growth slightlybut not significantly, when mice were gavagedAAE after the MAD-MB-231 cellsinjectedabrupt ending. Administration of AAE for 2 weeks showed delay in tumourpalpability (about 38%) and growth rate (time to reach tumour volume ≥ 1000 mm3)(Zhang et al. 2015). They concluded the antitumour and chemopreventive activityof AAE against TNBC cancer in vivo and in vitro and potential use as adjuvant formTOR inhibition.
