Can edible sprouts be the element of effective chemopreventive strategy? - A systematic review of in vitro and in vivo study
Marta Grudzińska, Agnieszka Galanty, Paweł Paśko
Abstract
Cancer is a disease that seriously and increasingly threatens human health and life, affecting various organs such as: breast, lung, colon and rectum, prostate or stomach. Because of that it is so important to find appropriate chemopreventive agents that can prevent the development of cancer in humans. One of such methods may be a healthy diet rich in vegetables and fruits, including sprouts, which have recently gained popularity due to their health-promoting properties and easy process of cultivation. The purpose of the following systematic review is to collect the results of all so far published studies on the chemopreventive potential of sprouts of various edible plants, in order to select the most promising species for further research. This paper focused on the impact of sprouts extracts on cancer cells in vitro, as determined by the inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, growth and viability, or apoptosis stimulation, with special interest put on the results of the in vivo and human studies. The influence of different cultivation conditions and biofortification with selenium and probiotics on the activity of sprouts was assessed. Attempts were also made to indicate the main compounds responsible for sprouts’ biological activity. Most of the results suggest that the sprouts may play a role in chemoprevention, as a part of the daily diet, with especially encouraging effects observed for broccoli sprouts. However, further research on cultivation conditions, safety profile, the impact of Se-enrichment or pharmacokinetic studies are necessary to assess the effectiveness of sprouts as chemopreventive agents in humans.