The usual chemotherapy approach, which employs cytotoxic drugs for cancer treatment, comes with severe adverse effects, plant-based natural products have been discovered to possess similar capabilities as synthetic anticancer agents in fighting and preventing certain cancer cell types. These natural products have shown a preference for targeting cancer cells, sparing healthy cells[25]. The present research, which centers on evaluating the cytotoxic activity of the compound derived from the petroleum ether extract of the tuber Amorphophalluspaeoniifolius(Elephant foot yam), known for its potential anticancer effects on HeLa cells (cervical cancer cells)[14] holds great significance. The compound extracted from the petroleum ether column fraction was characterized using theHigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. The cytotoxic activity of the isolated compound was studiedbyin vitro experiments on HeLa cellsand normal cells (L929 cells). The cell viability was determined by MTT and apoptosis assays and by means of direct observation with an Inverted Phase Contrast Microscope. The compound showedahalf-maximal inhibitory concentration,IC50 27.61 µg/mL for HeLa cells in the MTT assay, indicating the cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. Furthermore, the compound demonstrated a non-toxic effect on normal cells, as indicated by the observation that the viability percentage of normal cells exposed to the compound was 94.76% at the maximum tested concentration of 100 µg/mL.These findings were further supported by microscopic examination and morphological apoptosis assay. The morphological apoptosis assay, which utilized a double staining acridine orange/ ethidium bromide (AO/EB)method, demonstrated that the compound plays a crucial role in programmed cell death, as evidenced by changes in fluorescence observed in HeLa cells treated with varying concentrations of the compound. The comparative apoptosis study withnormal cells also supports the selective toxicity of the compound toward cancer cells. The role of the compound in apoptosis was further established by its interaction with the apoptosis-inhibiting B-Cell Lymphoma-2 protein (PDB ID: 2W3L), which was screened using the docking procedure with AutoDockVina.