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Microgreens: Functional Food with Antiproliferative Cancer Properties Influenced by Light
The anti-proliferative/pro-oxidant efficacy of green pea, soybean, radish, Red Rambo radish, and rocket microgreens, cultivated under either fluorescent li
Francesca Truzzi, Anne Whittaker, Chiara Roncuzzi, Annalisa Saltari, Mitchell P. Levesque, Giovanni Dinelli
Foods · 2021 · https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10081690
Abstract
The anti-proliferative/pro-oxidant efficacy of green pea, soybean, radish, Red Rambo radish, and rocket microgreens, cultivated under either fluorescent lighting (predominant spectral peaks in green and orange) or combination light-emitting diode (LED, predominant spectral peak in blue) was investigated using Ewing sarcoma lines, RD-ES and A673, respectively. All aqueous microgreen extracts significantly reduced cell proliferation (cancer prevention effect) to varying extents in two-dimensional sarcoma cell cultures. The effect of the polyphenol fraction in the aqueous food matrix was unrelated to total polyphenol content, which differed between species and light treatment. Only Pisum sativum (LED-grown) extracts exercised anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in both three-dimensional RD-ES and A673 spheroids (early tumor progression prevention), without cytotoxic effects on healthy L929 fibroblasts. A similar anti-tumor effect of Red Rambo radish (LED and fluorescent-grown) was evident only in the RD-ES spheroids. Aside from the promising anti-tumor potential of the polyphenol fraction of green pea microgreens, the latter also displayed favorable growth quality parameters, along with radish, under both light treatments over the 10 day cultivation period.
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How to credit this work
Francesca Truzzi; Anne Whittaker; Chiara Roncuzzi; Annalisa Saltari; Mitchell P. Levesque; Giovanni Dinelli (2021). Microgreens: Functional Food with Antiproliferative Cancer Properties Influenced by Light. Foods. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10081690 Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Hosted by EVEC Athens (microgreens.org.gr). No changes were made to this article. Provided as-is, without warranties. EVEC Athens is not affiliated with, and this copy is not endorsed by, the authors or the publisher.
Explore this on our site
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