Background: Echinops (Echinops dichorus L.) from the Asteraceae family is a plant which obtained from the kind of insect activity on some species and generated a compound that is called "mann".

Objective: Identification of the main chemical compounds of plant, solvent and different methods of extracting in extraction of these compounds is evaluated.

Methods: Isolation and identification of extracts constituents is done with GC/MS. In order to evaluate anticancer characteristics, ethanolic and n-Hexane extracts from Manna has been obtained using Maceration and Soxhlet Apparatus methods. The effects of these extracts on CaCO2 cells have been evaluated using MTT and NBT values.

Results: The results of phytochemical investigations showed that saponin, steroids, glycoside cyanogenic, tannin and alkaloid compounds are existence. In the GC-MS analysis of extracting showed that fatty acids and terpenes as major constituents in Manna. Based on results, 27 different components in the Maceration method, 30 different components in the percolation and 10 different components in the Soxhlet Apparatus method were identified. The results of MTT showed the least cell survival value of treated cancerous cell was concerned to ethanolic and n-Hexane-derived extract using Maceration method. NBT test results represent the antioxidant properties of ethanolic and n-Hexane extracts using Maceration method.

Conclusion: The use of ethanol and Percolation are the best approach for extracting organic compounds of Manna, but to extract the fatty acids and terpenes of plants, Soxhlet method is proposed. All the extracts of Echinops (Mann) showed good cytotoxic properties that represent the presence of antioxidant compounds these extracts.