Antioxidant and in vitro anticancer activities of phenolics isolated from sugar beet molasses

BACKGROUND In the present study, the phenolic compounds were prepared using ultrasonic-aid extraction from sugar beet molasses (SBM). METHODS Gallic acid (GA), cyanidin-3-O-glucoside chloride (CGC) and epicatechin (EP) were produced after column chromatography from the extraction, and further detected using NMR, QTOF-MS and ESI-MS/MS. RESULTS The three compounds exhibited strong antioxidant activities including DPPH radical scavenging activities, ABTS radical scavenging activities and ORAC values. GA showed the strongest antioxidant activity. Antitumor activities significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. In particular, the CGC had growth inhibitory activities of 94.86, 87.27 and 67.13% against the human colon (CACO-2), hepatocellular (HepG2) and breast (MCF-7) carcinoma cell lines, respectively, at the highest concentration of 400 μg/mL of the extracts. These results suggest that the three compounds are key chemical compositions valuable for preparing functional foods in the food industry. CONCLUSIONS The results suggested that SBM is a natural source of antioxidant and antitumor agents for preparing functional foods.