Liposomal Ficus carica latex and ficin effects on human colon cancer cell line

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Abstract BACKGROUND Challenges such as metabolic instability, short half‐life, poor absorption, and low bioavailability are faced by natural drug candidates, particularly in complex plant‐derived extracts like fig latex, which contains multiple bioactive compounds that complicate standardization and encapsulation. This research was conducted to investigate the impact of liposome encapsulation on HT‐29 human colon cancer cell line, using commercially sourced ficin and latex samples from the Sari Lop and Aydin Black fig cultivars. Ficin and fig latices were encapsulated through thin‐film hydration, and their characteristic properties were analyzed. The cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of the prepared liposomes were also examined on the HT‐29 cells. RESULTS The polydispersity indices and zeta potentials of liposomes were consistent with those reported in the literature, although their sizes were larger than the desired range. Encapsulation efficiency percentage (EE%) values were relatively low, ranging from 15.5% to 23.0%, indicating that a significant portion of ficin and fig latices remained unencapsulated. This lower EE% may have contributed to the observed reduction in cytotoxicity in the encapsulated formulations. Unencapsulated ficin and fig latices showed dose‐dependent cytotoxicity (P < 0.05), while encapsulation significantly suppressed the toxicity, likely due to limited immediate bioavailability and controlled release. Apoptosis results, normalized to the cytotoxicity data, also showed dose‐dependency (P < 0.05) especially for Aydin Black fig latex. The significant differences in apoptosis between the 35 mg L−1 of encapsulated and unencapsulated Aydin Black fig latex treatments at 24 and 48 h (P = 0.000 and P = 0.012, respectively) further suggest that liposomal encapsulation modulates both cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction, potentially reducing off‐target effects while maintaining bioactivity. CONCLUSION It has been determined that liposomal encapsulation significantly suppresses the cytotoxic and pro‐apoptotic effects of ficin and fig latices. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.