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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #191273
Title: ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTICANCER PROPERTIES OF BERRY FRUITS

Author
item Wang, Shiow

Submitted to: Abstract of International Horticultural Congress
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2006
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Berry fruits are considered excellent functional foods because they contain high levels of natural antioxidants. Antioxidants can act as free radical scavengers, peroxide decomposers, singlet and triplet oxygen quenchers, enzyme inhibitors, and synergists. Therefore, antioxidants can delay or prevent the oxidation of lipids or other molecules by inhibiting the initiation or propagation of oxidizing chain reactions. Berry fruits such as blackberries, deerberries, lingonberries and strawberries had high antioxidant capacities [against peroxyl radicals (ROO'), hydroxyl radicals ('OH), singlet oxygen (1O2) and superoxide radicals (O2 '-)] and antioxidant enzyme activities. We have found that berry fruit extracts inhibited the proliferation of human lung epithelial cancer cell line A549 and decreased TPA-induced neoplastic transformation of JB6 P+ mouse epidermal cells. Pretreatment of JB6 P+ cells with berry fruit extracts resulted in the inhibition of both activator protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-'B) induced by either 12-O- tetradecanoylphorbol -13-acetate (TPA) or ultraviolet-B (UVB). Furthermore, berry fruit extracts also blocked TPA-induced phosphorylation of ERKs and UVB-induced phosphorylation of ERKs and JNK kinase in JB6 P+ cells. These results suggest that the ability of berry fruits to block UVB- and TPA-induced AP-1- and NF-'B- activation may be due to their antioxidant properties and their ability to reduce oxidative stress. The oxidative events that regulate AP-1 and NF-'B in berry fruits can be important molecular targets for cancer prevention. The berry fruits may be highly effective as a chemopreventive agent that acts by targeting the down-regulation of AP-1 and NF-'B activities, blocking MAPK signaling, and suppressing cancer cell proliferation and transformation and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. These results suggest that consuming berry fruits may be beneficial to human health.