Extraction of phenolic compounds fromthe shells of pecan nuts with cytotoxic activity through apoptosis against the colon cancer cell line HT-29

RIBAS LE ; BARAVALLE ME; GASSER FB; RENNA MS; ADDONA S; ORTEGA HH; SAVINO GH; VAN DE VELDE F; HEIN GJ

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2021

0022-1147

The water extraction of phenolic compounds from two varieties ("Mahan" and "Marameck") of pecan nutshells (Carya illinoinensis) without and with sonication, varying the solvent/solid ratio (S), the pH, and the refluxing time (t), was studied. Additionally, the in vitro cytotoxicity and the determination of the cell death mechanism of the extracts against the colon cancer cell line HT-29 were investigated. The content of total phenolic compounds (TPC) of "Marameck" nutshells resulted higher than for the "Mahan" variety, and the pH increase resulted in higher TPC contents for both cultivars. The optimized conditions for TPC extraction without and with sonication resulted: S = 33ml/g, pH = 12, and t = 9.6 min, and yielded ≈ 70 and 90mg/g of TPC for "Mahan" and "Marameck" nutshells, respectively. The optimized extracts of pecan nutshells without sonication from both cultivars presented similar cytotoxicity against HT- 29 colon cancer cells (IC50 ≈ 50 μg/ml), higher than for sonicated extracts (IC50 ≈88 and 138 μg/ml for "Mahan" and "Marameck," respectively). Cell death through apoptosiswas the main mechanism of cell death induced by the nutshell extracts.