Cruciferous vegetables and lung cancer

Multi-Functional Development and Utilization of Rapeseed: Comprehensive Analysis of the Nutritional Value of Rapeseed Sprouts

Rapeseed is the third largest oil crop in the world and the largest oil crop in China. The multi-functional development and utilization of rapeseed is an effective measure for the high-quality development of rapeseed industry in China. In this study, several basic nutrients of eight rapeseed sprouts and five bean sprouts (3–5 varieties each) were determined, including sugar, crude protein, crude fiber, vitamin E, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, and glucosinolates. Data analysis revealed that compared with bean sprouts, rapeseed sprouts were nutritionally balanced and were richer in active nutrients such as glucose, magnesium, selenium, vitamin E, and glucosinolate. Moreover, rapeseed sprouts exhibited reasonable amino acid composition and abundant unsaturated fatty acids (accounting for 90.32% of the total fatty acids). All these results indicated the potential of rapeseed sprout as a functional vegetable. Subsequently, three dominant nutrients including vitamin E, glucosinolate, and selenium were investigated in seeds and sprouts of 44 B. napus L. varieties. The results showed that germination raised the ratio of α-tocopherol/γ-tocopherol from 0.53 in seeds to 9.65 in sprouts, greatly increasing the content of α-tocopherol with the strongest antioxidant activity among the eight isomers of vitamin E. Furthermore, germination promoted the conversion and accumulation of glucosinolate components, especially, glucoraphanin with strong anti-cancer activity with its proportion increased from 1.06% in seeds to 1.62% in sprouts. In addition, the contents of selenium, vitamin E, and glucosinolate in rapeseed sprouts were highly correlated with those in seeds. Furthermore, these three dominant nutrients varied greatly within B. napus varieties, indicating the great potential of rapeseed sprouts to be further bio-enhanced. Our findings provide reference for the multi-purpose development and utilization of rapeseed, lay a theoretical foundation for the development of rapeseed sprout into a functional vegetable, and provide a novel breeding direction.

Effect of pretreatment on bioactive compounds in wild rocket juice

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of pretreatment with hot water or steaming on glucosinolates, polyphenols contents and antioxidant capacity in obtained raw juices. Moreover, in vitro cytotoxic activity of the raw juice to the cells derived from the gastrointestinal tract, including the small intestine (IEC-6 cell line), colon (Caco-2 cell line) and the liver (HepG2 cell line) were also investigated. The dominant glucosinolates in the wild rocket leaves were glucoraphanin (36%) and dimeric 4-mercaptobutyl (30%), followed by glucosativin and glucoerucin, 11% per each. Glucothiobeinin (6%), glucobrassicin (1%), 4-methoxyglucobrassicin (1%) and two unidentified compounds (4%) were also detected in rocket leaves. In terms of phenolic compounds, quercetin constituted the majority (55%) and the rest composed of hydroxycinnamic acids. In raw juices produced from steamed, pretreatment with hot water and untreated (control) leaves, glucosinolate contents were lower about 21%, 37% and 53%, respectively, than their levels in the raw material. The highest content of polyphenols among the juices tested (45.4 mg/100 g fresh weight) and antioxidant capacity (5.8 µmol Trolox/1 g f.w.) was recorded in the raw juice from pretreated leaves with hot water. The wild rocket raw juice concentrations responsible for a 50% reduction in Caco-2 and HepG2 cell viability were estimated at 1.87 ± 0.08 mg/mL and 3.54 ± 0.29 mg/mL. The viability of the IEC-6 cells was reduced by only 19.04%, at the maximum concentration (3.6 mg/mL) of the raw juice.

Characterization of phenolics, glucosinolates and antioxidant activity of beverages based on apple juice with addition of frozen and freeze-dried curly kale leaves (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala L.)

The aim of this study was to determine the polyphenols, glucosinolates and ascorbic acid content as well as antioxidant activity of beverages on the base of apple juice with addition of frozen and freeze-dried curly kale leaves. Upon enrichment with frozen (13%) and freeze-dried curly kale (3%), the naturally cloudy apple juice was characterized by an increase in phenolic compounds by 2.7 and 3.3-times, accordingly. The antioxidant activity of beverages with the addition of curly kale ranged from 6.6 to 9.4μmol Trolox/mL. The obtained beverages were characterized glucosinolates content at 117.6-167.6mg/L and ascorbic acid content at 4,1-31,9mg/L. The results of sensory evaluation of colour, taste and consistency of apple juice and beverages with the addition of kale did not differ significantly prior to pasteurization (P≤0.05), whereas after the pasteurization the evaluated factors decreased significantly.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and lung cancer risk: a case-control study in Galicia, Spain

Lung cancer has multiple risk factors and tobacco is the main one. Diet plays a role, but no clear effect has been consistently observed for different fruit and vegetable consumption. We aim to assess the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and lung cancer risk through a hospital-based case-control study in Spanish population. We recruited incident lung cancer cases in 2 Spanish hospitals from 2004 to 2008. Controls were individuals attending hospital for trivial surgery. Cases and controls were older than 30 and did not have a neoplasic history. We collected information on lifestyle with special emphases on tobacco and dietary habits. We included 371 cases and 496 controls. We found no protective effect for overall fruit consumption. For green leafy vegetables, the odds ratio (OR) was 0.92 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.32-2.69), and for other vegetables the OR was 0.77 (95% CI = 0.40-1.48) for the categories compared. We observed a reduced risk for broccoli and pumpkin intake. Although fruit consumption does not seem to be associated with a lower lung cancer risk, only the frequent consumption of specific green leafy vegetables and other vegetables might be associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer.

Influence of seasonal variation and methyl jasmonate mediated induction of glucosinolate biosynthesis on quinone reductase activity in broccoli florets

Methyl jasmonate spray treatments (250 μM) were utilized to alter glucosinolate composition in the florets of the commercial broccoli F1 hybrids 'Pirate', 'Expo', 'Green Magic', 'Imperial', and 'Gypsy' grown in replicated field plantings in 2009 and 2010. MeJA treatment significantly increased glucoraphanin (11%), gluconasturtiin (59%), and neoglucobrassicin (248%) concentrations and their hydrolysis products including sulforaphane (152%), phenethyl isothiocyanate (318%), N-methoxyindole-3-carbinol (313%), and neoascorbigen (232%) extracted from florets of these genotypes over two seasons. Increased quinone reductase (QR) activity was significantly correlated with increased levels of sulforaphane, N-methoxyindole-3-carbinol, and neoascorbigen. Partitioning experiment-wide trait variances indicated that the variability in concentrations of sulforaphane (29%), neoascorbigen (48%), and QR activity (72%) was influenced by year-associated weather variables, whereas variation in neoglucobrassicin (63%) and N-methoxyindole-3-carbinol (46%) concentrations was primarily attributed to methyl jasmonate treatment. These results suggest that methyl jasmonate treatment can enhance QR inducing activity by increased hydrolysis of glucoraphanin into sulforaphane and the hydrolysis products of neoglucobrassicin.

Erucin, a new promising cancer chemopreventive agent from rocket salads, shows anti-proliferative activity on human lung carcinoma A549 cells

Erucin (ER) is a dietary isothiocyanate present in cruciferous vegetables, such as rocket salads (Erucasativa Mill., Diplotaxis sp.), that has been recently considered a promising cancer chemopreventive phytochemical. Biological activity of ER was investigated on human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells, analyzing its effects on molecular pathways involved in apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, such as PARP-1 cleavage, p53 and p21 protein expression. Our results show that ER affects the A549 cell proliferation, enhancing significantly p53 and p21 protein expression in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.001). PARP-1 cleavage occurs only after exposure to high concentrations of ER (50 microM), in accordance to previous studies showing similar bioactivity of other isothiocyanates (ITCs). Our study reports for the first time that the induction of p53, p21 and PARP-1 cleavage may participate in the anti-proliferative activity of ER in human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. Comparison of data with those obtained with the isothiocyanate sulforaphane (SF), structurally related to ER, underlines the strong relationship between structural analogy of ITCs and their biological activity. The ability of dietary compounds to modulate molecular mechanisms that affect cancer cell proliferation is certainly a key point of the cancer prevention potential by functional foods.