Evaluation of some chemical constituents, antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer activities of beta Vulgaris L. Root

Abstract

Beta vulgaris is belonging to the family Che-nopodiaceae and has several varieties with bulb colors ranging from yellow to red. Deep red-colored beet roots are the most popular for human consumption, both cooked and raw as salad or juice. The ethanolic extract of beetroots contains valuable and active compounds such as carotenoids, phenols, flavonoids, tannin, alkaloids, vitamins C, B3, B6 and B9. Therefore, beetroot extract has antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against gram positive and negative bacteria. Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus demonstrated higher susceptibility than Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas typhi-mureum. Beta vulgaris ethanolic extract exhibit significant anticancer activity against lung (A549) but slight effect against colorectal adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cell lines at the high concentrations of etha-nolic extract (800 µg/ml).

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© by PSP Volume 27 – No. 9/2018 pages 6369-6378 Fresenius Environmental Bulletin
6369
EVALUATION OF SOME CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS,
ANTIOXIDANT, ANTIBACTERIAL AND ANTICANCER
ACTIVITIES OF BETA VULGARIS L. ROOT
Hossam S El-Beltagi1,2,*, Heba I Mohamed3, Basma M H Megahed4, Mohammed Gamal4, Gehan Safwat4
1Faculty of Agriculture, Biochemistry Department, Cairo University, Giza, Cairo, Egypt
2Cairo University, Research Park (CURP), Giza, Cairo, Egypt
3Faculty of Education, Department of Biological and Geological Science, Ain shams University, Cairo, Egypt
4Faculty of Biotechnology, October University for Modern Science and Art (MSA), Egypt
ABSTRACT
Beta vulgaris is belonging to the family Che-
nopodiaceae and has several varieties with bulb
colors ranging from yellow to red. Deep red-
colored beet roots are the most popular for human
consumption, both cooked and raw as salad or
juice. The ethanolic extract of beetroots contains
valuable and active compounds such as carotenoids,
phenols, flavonoids, tannin, alkaloids, vitamins C,
B3, B6 and B9. Therefore, beetroot extract has
antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against gram
positive and negative bacteria. Gram-positive bacte-
ria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus
demonstrated higher susceptibility than Gram-
negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas typhi-
mureum. Beta vulgaris ethanolic extract exhibit
significant anticancer activity against lung (A549)
but slight effect against colorectal adenocarcinoma
Caco-2 cell lines at the high concentrations of etha-
nolic extract (800 µg/ml).
KEYWORDS:
Beta vulgaris, phenols, flavonoids, tannin, carotenoids,
vitamins, DPPH, antibacterial, anticancer activity.
INTRODUCTION
In the past few years, it's found that the use of
synthetic drugs to protect the human from diseases
is unsafe to human and environment. So that, it's
very important to use the medicinal plants which
have secondary metabolites and antioxidant com-
pounds which decrease the effect of free radicals [1,
2]. Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris is belong to
the family Chenopodiaceae (Angiosperm) [3] and it
also called beetroot or garden beet [4]. Beetroot is
annual crop, biennial herbaceous and cultivated for
their edible roots and leaves [5]. The color of beet-
root is differed from yellow to red according to its
variety. In all over the world, red beets are used in
human consumption [6]. The roots are used in mak-
ing salads, jam, soups and juice [7,8]. In addition,
the leaves contain a large amount of antioxidant and
vitamins, so it can be used as food and cooked as a
spinach substitute [9]. Red beets have betalain
pigments so that it has commercial and pharmaceu-
tical uses such as natural food dye, cosmetics, drug
formulations and paintings [10-12].
Red beets are the 10th vegetable in the world
that have antioxidants [13, 14]. These antioxidants
used as the scavengers of free radicals and prevent
the oxidative damage on proteins, DNA and lipo-
proteins [15, 16]. The oxidative damage of macro-
molecules may lead to chronic diseases such as
cancer, cataractogenesis, cardiovascular disease,
neurodegenerative diseases, and stroke, which may
prevent by the antioxidant compounds in red beets
[17]. Red beets also have high concentrations of
secondary metabolites (phenolic acids, flavonoids,
ascorbic acid) [18-20].
The most important problems in the pro-
cessing of the food industry are the contamination
of microbes which affects the quality of foods and
cause economic losses [21, 22]. So that, the im-
portant strategy to overcome this problem is to use
natural antimicrobial compounds which presented
in medicinal plants and protect from fungi and
bacteria [23, 24]. Red beets used as antioxidant,
antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic,
antithrombotic, antiatherogenic, cardioprotective,
and vasodilatory properties [25].
The aim of this work is to study the chemical
composition of red beet roots and to study its effect
as antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer activi-
ty.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant Materials. The roots of Beta vulgaris
subsp. vulgaris var. Plano (sugar beet) was collect-
ed from local market in Egypt. Beta vulgaris was
botanically characterized by Dr. Samah Azooz from
Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo
Univeristy, Egypt.

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6370
TABLE 1
Microbial strains used to test the antimicrobial activities of Beta vulgaris root extract
Microbial group
Indicator strain
Positive control
Cultivation conditions
Gram positive bacteria
Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923)
Kanamycin
Muller-Hinton broth, 37ºC/ 24 h
Bacillus cereus (ATCC 33018)
Muller-Hinton broth, 30ºC / 24 h
Gram negative bacteria
Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739)
Polymyxin
Muller-Hinton broth, 37ºC / 24 h
Salmonella typhimureum (ATCC 14028)
Muller-Hinton broth, 37ºC / 24 h
Fungus
Aspergillus niger (nrrl 326)
Nystatin
Sabouraud dextrose broth, 25 ºC / 3days
Candida albicans ATCC 10231
Sabouraud dextrose broth, 25ºC / 24 h
Microbial strain. Table 1 illustrated the mi-
croorganisms which were used in this study and
were obtained from the American Type Culture
Collection (ATCC) as well as the culture collection
of the Microbiology Lab, Cairo University Re-
search Park (CURP), Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo
University.
Extraction method. The roots were cleaned
and washed thoroughly under tap water, and then
the roots were freeze-dried and grinded into fine
powder using an electric blender. The powder was
dried in an oven at 40°C for 24 h. The fine powder
sample (500mg) was extracted in 10 ml ethanol or
distilled H2O for 24 h using a shaker, then the ex-
tract was filtered and the samples were stored at
4°C until use [26]. All analysis was done in the labs
of Cairo University. Research Park (CURP), Facul-
ty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Total polyphenol content. The total phenolic
content was estimated by Folin Ciocalteu method as
described by Singleton et al. [27]. The absorbance
was measured at 765 nm using a spectrophotometer
Thermo Scientific HERYIOS.
Total flavonoid content. The flavonoids con-
tent was determined by aluminium trichloride
method as described by Zhishen et al. [28]. The
absorbance was measured at 510 nm using a spec-
trophotometer.
Total tannin contents. Tannin content in red
beet roots was determined by using Folin-Denis
reagent as described by Saxena et al. [29]. The
absorbance was read at 700 nm using spectropho-
tometer.
Total alkaloid contents. Alkaloids was meas-
ured according to the method described by Adham
[30].
The percentage alkaloid was calculated as:
Percentage of total alkaloid = [Weight of residue /
Weight of sample] ×100
Total Athocyanine content. Fresh weight of
Beta vulgaris root was homogenized in methanol
containing 1% (v/v) HCl and then filtrate. The
filtration was read at 530 and 657 nm using spec-
trophotometer as described by Mancinelli et al.
[31].
Total carotenoid content. Total carotenoids
of red beet root were extracted using a mixture of
hexane: acetone (1:1 v/v) as described by Jeyanthi
et al. [32]. The absorbance of carotenoid was read
at 630 nm using spectrophotometer.
Water soluble vitamins. Sample Prepara-
tion. Water soluble vitamin were determined by
HPLC analysis after extraction from the sample
according to Albala-Hurtado et al. [33]. Dry
weighed 0.2 g of red beet root powder was placed
into centrifuge tube and add 15 mL of deionized
water. After 15 min of ultrasonic extraction, centri-
fuge at 4000 rpm for 5 minutes, then quantitively
transfer to 25 mL volumetric flask, add water to the
mark. Filter through 0.2um nylon membrane before
injection.
Instrument Conditions. Agilent 1260 infinity
HPLC Series (Agilent, USA), equipped with Qua-
ternary pump, a Kinetex XB-C18 column 100 mm
x 4.6 mm (Phenomenex, USA), operated at 35oC.
The separation is achieved using a binary linear
elution gradient with (A) 25 mM NaH2PO4 pH =
2.5, (B) methanol. The injected volume was 20 μL.
Detection: VWD detector set at 254 nm for ascorbic
acids and 220nm for vitamins B3, B6, B9 and B12
[34].
Extraction of phenolic and flavonoid com-
pounds. 0.2g dry sample extracted with 20 ml
ethanol 80%, soak in brawn bottle for 24 hr at room
temperature, centrifuged for 5 min, volume adjusted
to 25 ml by ethanol 80%, filtered through Whatman
filter paper, 10 ml of the solution evaporated to
dryness then dissolved in 5 ml HPLC grade metha-
nol 50%, filtered through PTFE filter with pore size
0.2 μm.
Instrument Condition for phenolic com-
pounds. Agilent 1260 infinity HPLC Series (Ag-
ilent, USA), equipped with Quaternary pump, a
Zorbax Eclipse plusC18 column 100 mm x 4.6 mm
i.d., (Agilent technologies, USA), operated at 30oC.
The separation is achieved using a ternary linear
elution gradient with (A) HPLC grade water 0.2 %
H3PO4 (v/v), (B) methanol and (C) acetonitrile. The
injected volume was 20 μL. Detection: VWD detec-
tor set at 284 nm.
Instrument Condition for Flavonoids.
HPLC, Smart line, Knauer, Germany., equipped

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6371
with binary pump, a Zorbax Eclipse plusC18 col-
umn 150 mm x 4.6 mm i.d., (Agilent technologies,
USA), operated at 35oC. Eluent: methanol: H2O
with 0.5% H3PO4, 50:50 with flow rate 0.7 ml/min,
the injected volume was 20 μL. Detection: UV
detector set at 273 nm and data integration by clari-
tychrom@ software. This method was the modified
of methods Goupy et al. [35] and Mattila et al. [36]
for fractionate the polyphenols and flavonoids,
respectively.
DPPH free Radical Scavenging activity
(RSA). The antioxidant activity of the Beta vulgaris
root extract was measured in terms of hydrogen
donating or radical-scavenging ability using the
stable DPPH method as modified by Hae-Ryong et
al. [37]. The reaction mixture containing 1 ml of the
extract at different concentrations (40, 80, 120, 150
μg/ml) and 1ml of DPPH (0.2mM) was vigorously
shaken and incubated in darkness at room tempera-
ture for 30 minutes. The absorbance was read at
517nm using UV-visible spectrophotometer. Radi-
cal scavenging activity was expressed as percent of
inhibition and was calculated using the following
formula:-
%DPPH = [ Absorbance of Control – Absorbance
of Sample / Absorbance of Control ] x 100
Antibacterial activity. Agar disc diffusion
method was used to evaluate antibacterial activity
of red beet roots as describe by Bauer et al. [38].
The strains were grown on Mueller-Hinton agar
slants at 37°C for 24 h and checked for purity. After
the incubation, the cells were washed off the sur-
face of agar and suspended in sterile physiological
solution. The number of cells in 1 ml of suspension
for inoculation measured by McFarland nefelome-
ter was 5 × 107 CFU/ml. 1 ml of these suspensions
was homogenized with 9 ml of melted (45°C)
Mueller-Hinton agar and poured into Petri dishes.
On the surface of the agar, 5 mm diameter paper
discs (HiMedia®, Mumbai, India) were applied and
impregnated with 15 μl of samples. The plates were
incubated at the optimum temperature for each
indicator strain (Table 1) and tested after 24, 48 and
72 h. Growth inhibition was scored positive in the
presence of a detectable clear zone (ZI) around the
disc and expressed in mm. Experiments were car-
ried out in triplicates and the inhibition zone was
recorded as the average of the replicates± SD.
In Vitro cytotoxicity assay. Human lung can-
cer (A549) and colorectal adenocarcinoma Caco-2
were purchased from CURP, faculty of agriculture
at Cairo University (Egypt). Cells were maintained
in (DMEM) supplemented with 10% heat-
inactivated fetal bovine serum, 100 µg/ml strepto-
mycin and 100 unit/ml penicillin g potassium, in a
humidified 90% and 5% (V/V) CO2 atmosphere at
37ºC. The cytotoxicity of ethanolic extracts was
tested by the neutral red (NR) assay as previously
described [39]. Exponentially growing cells were
collected using 0.25% Trypsin-EDTA and seeded
in 96- well plates at 20000 cells/well. After incuba-
tion (overnight), extracts were added in various
concentrations (10, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800
µg/ml); 4 wells for each concentration. After treat-
ment with extracts for 24h., media were removed
and cells were exposed to neutral red solution for 4
hours at 37ºC. Destin solution was used to dissolve
the NR stained cells and color intensity was meas-
ured at 540nm microplate reader (Biotek, ELX808).
Statistical analysis. All results were ex-
pressed as mean values ± standard deviation. Com-
parisons were performed by analysis of variance
(ANOVA). Statistical analyses were run using SAS
software.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Chemical constituents of red beet root. As
illustrated in Table 2, the chemical constituents of
ethanolic extract of red beet roots contain total
phenolic (133.5 mg /g DW), total flavonoids (1.5
mg /g DW), total tannin (5.13 mg /g DW), total
alkaloid (2.1 g /100g DW), total athocyanin (63.7
μg/100g FW) and carotenoids (1.7 mg/100g FW).
These results are similar to previous studies [40-
42], who found that the main components of red
beet root extract are polyphenols, alkaloids, tannins,
flavonoids, folic acid, reducing sugars and ascorbic
acid. In addition, folic acid and vitamins A, B, and
C can play important roles in brain development
and motor function.
TABLE 2
Quantitative phytochemical analysis of Beta vulgaris root
Constituents
Values in ethanolic extract
Total phenolic
(mg Gallic acid /g DW)
133.5±1.05
Total flavonoid
(mg Quercetin /g DW)
1.54±0.047
Total tannin
(mg Tannic acid /g DW)
5.13±0.085
Total alkaloid
(g/100g DW)
2.10±0.040
Total athocyanin
(μg/100g FW)
63.73±0.032
Carotenoids
(mg/100g FW)
1.72±0.08
Values are mean ± SD of three replicate analyses

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The presence of the secondary metabolites in
red beet root has contributed to its medicinal value
as well as physiological activity [43]. Phytochemi-
cal components are responsible for both pharmaco-
logical and toxic activities in plants [44]. They are
used for therapeutic purposes to cure various dis-
eases and to heal injuries [45]. For instance, flavo-
noids have been shown to have antibacterial, anti-
inflammatory, anti-allergic, antiviral, antineoplastic
and antioxidant, which act as free radical scavenger
and metal chelators [46, 47]. Alkaloids contribute
to plant species fitness of survival and have phar-
macological effects and are used as medication and
recreational drugs [48]. They protect the plants
against infection with insects by the production of
the bitter taste that repels insects from feeding on
plant leaves. Tannins may provide protection
against microbial degradation of dietary proteins in
the rumen [49]. In addition, carotenoids have pro-
tective effects against several diseases such as can-
cer, coronary heart disease, inflammatory reactions,
and age-related macular degeneration [50] and act
as antioxidant [51].
HPLC of soluble vitamins. The results in Ta-
ble 3 reported that the ethanolic extract of red beet-
root contains vitamin C (26.2 mg/100g DW), vita-
min B3 (1.67 mg/100g DW), vitamin B6 (6.17
mg/100g DW) and vitamin B9 (2.60 mg/100g DW).
These results are similar to Odoh and Okoro [41]
who found that beetroot contains significant
amounts of vitamins, especially vitamin C (4.36
mg/100 g).
The results showed that red beet root has a
high concentration of ascorbic acid. This vitamin
plays an important role in human nutrition, includ-
ing growth and maintenance of tissues, the produc-
tion of neurotransmitters, hormones and immune
system responses. Vitamin C is an important anti-
oxidant and reduces the adverse effects of reactive
oxygen species which caused damage to macromol-
ecules such as lipids, DNA and proteins, which are
related to cardiovascular disease, cancer and neuro-
degenerative diseases [52].
TABLE 3
Water soluble vitamins contents of
Beta vulgaris root
Vitamin contents
Values
(mg/100g DW)
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
26.23±0.32
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
1.67±0.05
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)
6.173±0.16
Vitamin B9 (Folic acid)
2.60±0.08
Values are mean ± SD of three replicate analyses
HPLC of phenolic compounds. Data in Ta-
ble 4 showed that the ethanolic extract of red beet
root contains a number of phenolic compounds
such as gallic acid (11 mg/100g DW), catechol (7.4
mg/100g DW), p-Comuaric acid (0.74 mg/100g
DW), ferulic acid (0.68 mg/100g DW), o-Coumaric
acid (1.31 mg/100g DW) and cinnamic acid (0.6
mg/100g DW). These results are similar to Vulić et
al. [53] who reported that beetroot contain ferulic,
vanillic, p-hydroxybenzoic, caffeic and protocate-
chuic acids.
In addition, the ethanolic extract of red beet
root contains a number of flavonoids compounds
such as myricetin (19.3 mg/100g DW), neringenin
(19.9 mg/100g DW), kaempferol (3.0 mg/100g
DW) and apigenin (2.56 mg/100g DW). Similar
results reported by Pyo et al. [54] recognized the
following: catechin (6.7 mg/100 g FW), myricetin
(2.2 mg/100 g FW), quercetin (7.5 mg/100 g FW)
and kaempferol (9.2 mg/100 g FW).
Also, Ben Haj Koubaier et al. [55] found that
the presence of five phenolic acids (ferulic, vanillic,
syringic, ellagic, and caffeic), three flavonoids
(quercetin, kampferol, and myricetin) for roots of
red beet by using Liquid chromatography–mass
spectrometry. These flavonoids act as antioxidation,
antiinflammation and inhibition of tumor prolifera-
tion [56].
TABLE 4
HPLC analysis of phenolic and flavonoid
compounds of Beta vulgaris root
Phenolic compounds
Conc. mg/100g DW
Gallic acid
11.01
Catechol
7.38
p-Comuaric acid
0.74
Ferulic acid
0.68
o-Coumaric acid
1.31
Cinnamic acid
0.60
flavonoid compounds
Myricetin
19.25
Neringenin
19.92
Kaempferol
3.02
Apigenin
2.65
Antioxidant activity of red beet root. The ef-
fect of antioxidants on DPPH radical scavenging
was thought to result from their hydrogen donating
ability. DPPH is a stable free radical and accepts an
electron or hydrogen radical to become a stable
diamagnetic molecule. The reduction capability of
DPPH radicals was determined by the decrease in
its absorbance at 517 nm induced by antioxidants. It
is visually noticeable as a discoloration from purple
to yellow. The scavenging of DPPH radicals in-
creased with increasing extract concentration from
40, 80, 120 and 150 μg /mL (Table 5). The IC50
value of ethanolic extract of beet root was 55.82 μg
/mL concentration. IC50 value indicate the concen-
tration of the test sample required to inhibit 50% of
the free radicals. The IC50 value is a parameter
widely used to measure the free radical scavenging
activity [57]; a smaller IC50 value corresponds to a
higher antioxidant activity.
Enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants are
molecules that have the ability to scavenge free

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6373
radicals before they damage the cells. Antioxidants
can be endogenous or obtained exogenously, either
through diet or by dietary supplements [58]. Scien-
tific evidence suggests that antioxidant compounds
in food play an important role as a health protecting
factor. Beet root ranks among the top ten most
powerful vegetables with respect to its antioxidant
capacity ascribed with a total phenol content of 50–
60 μmol/g dry weight [13]. Kähkönen et al. [14]
reported that beet root contains considerable
amount of phenolic acids such as ferulic, protocate-
chuic, vanillic, p-coumaric, phydroxybenxoic, and
syringic acids [59].
TABLE 5
Antioxidant activity of Beta vulgaris root against
DPPH method.
Conc. (μg/ml)
DPPH % in ethanolic extraxt
40
49.20
80
50.638
120
52.763
150
70.351
IC50 (μg/ml)
55.823
Phenolic compounds present in red beet de-
crease oxidative damage of lipids improves antioxi-
dant status in humans, scavenges free radicals,
exhibits inflammatory effect, anticancer property
and reduces the risk of chronic illnesses such as
cancer and cardiovascular diseases [18]. In addi-
tion, the antioxidant properties of phenolic com-
pounds are mainly because of their redox potential,
which allows them to act as reducing agents, hy-
drogen donators, metal chelators and singlet oxygen
quenchers.
Antimicrobial activity of red beet root. The
agar diffusion method used to evaluate the antibac-
terial and antifungal activity of ethanolic extract of
red beetroot by using selected gram-positive, gram-
negative bacteria and fungus. The diameter of the
inhibition zone (ZI) is shown in Table 6.
The data indicate that the extract exhibited the
activity against the investigated food pathogens.
Gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and
Bacillus cereus demonstrated higher susceptibility
than Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Salmonel-
la typhimureum. The extract showed antibacterial
activity against Staphylococcus aureus (ZI = 12.5
mm), one of the most common gram-positive bacte-
rium causing food poisoning. On the other hand, a
weak antimicrobial activity was found against Sal-
monella typhimureum (ZI = 7.11 mm). The extract
showed no effect on the fungus used (Aspergillus
niger and Candida albicans). In general, red beet
extracts have exhibited antibacterial activity against
a wide range of gram-positive bacteria and gram-
negative bacteria; however, no inhibitory activity
was found against the fungi and yeasts studied [60-
63]. In terms of antimicrobial potential, gram-
positive bacteria (Bacillus, Micrococcus, Staphylo-
coccus, and Streptococcus) have been found more
susceptible to red beets than gram-negative (Esche-
richia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) [62-63,
53]. The red beetroot extract contains a high
amount of phenolic compounds which may cause
the disrupting of the cell wall structure of gram-
positive bacteria [64-66]. The inhibitory effect of
ethanolic extract on gram-negative bacteria is at-
tribute to their outer membrane, consisting of dou-
ble-layered, highly hydrophilic lipopolysaccharide
molecules, and unique periplasmic space [67-68].
These bacteria caused the infectious diseases
on human health and also affect on food safety. The
phytochemicals derived from red beetroot have
been widely exploited for their colorant properties;
however, there is much potential for utilizing their
antimicrobial properties, particularly in food-related
applications and consumer products targeting hu-
man health and beauty. For example, red beet com-
pounds could be incorporated into products such as
active antimicrobial food packaging [69], cosmetic
products [70-72] and also in active drug formula-
tions for the treatment against disease in the form of
supplements, topical sprays, and ointments.
Anticancer activity of red beetroot. Data in
Table 7, showed that the cytotoxic activity of red
beetroot as an anticancer agent (towards to lung)
and IC50 dose. The percentage of lung cancer cell
line (A549) viability was decreased with increasing
the concentrations of the methanolic extract of red
beetroot (Figure 1). On the other hand, the viabitity
of colorectal adenocarcinoma Caco-2 is not affected
by all concentrations of red beet root except the
high concentrations (800 μg/ml) which showed
slight decrease in the viability of Caco-2 cell line.
Cancer is often associated with increased risk of
death and the toxic side effects caused by the mod-
ern medicine.
TABLE 6
Antibacterial activities of Beta vulgaris root against selected bacterial strains and fungus.
Samples
Inhibition zone (mm)*
Gram positive bacteria
Gram negative bacteria
Fungus
S. aureus
B. cereus
E. coli
S. typhimureum
A. niger
C. albicans
Beta vulgaris root in
ethanolic extract
12.54±0.35
9.25±0.16
8.37±0.21
7.11±0.0
-
-
Values are mean ± SD of three replicate analyses, *Well size = 5 mm

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6374
TABLE 7
Anticancer activities of Beta vulgaris root.
Concentrations
(μg/ml)
Lung cell line
(A549)
Colorectal adenocarcinoma
Caco-2
Viability %
10
100
100
50
99.8
100
100
88.6
100
200
86.4
100
400
82.8
100
800
78.0
95.5
IC50 (μg/ml)
17800
4831
FIGURE 1
Morphological observation of cancer cell lines (A549) by 40X magnification power.
Many cancer patients seek alternative and
complementary methods of treatment such as usage
of phytomedicine. Natural dietary agents have
drawn a great deal of attention because of their
potential to suppress cancers and to reduce the risk
of cancer development by decreasing oxidative
stress, which plays a significant role in the patho-
genesis and pathophysiological process of cancer
[73]. Previous studies have shown that beetroot has
an excellent antioxidant property which can con-
tribute to the anticancer activity [74-75]. Previous
phytochemical studies of Beta vulgaris indicate the
presence of phenolic groups, flavonoids, betaxan-
thins and betacyanins [74]. Polyphenolic com-
pounds might inhibit cancer cells by xenobiotic
metabolizing enzymes that alter metabolic activa-
tion of potential carcinogens, while some flavo-
noids could also alter hormone production and
inhibit aromatase to prevent the cancer cells [76,
77]. The mechanism of action of anticancer activity
of phenols could be by disturbing the cellular divi-
sion during mitosis at the telophase stage. It was
also reported that phenols reduce the amount of

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6375
cellular protein and mitotic index and colony for-
mation during cell proliferation of cancer cells [78].
FIGURE 2
Morphological observation of Colorectal
adenocarcinoma Caco-2by 40X magnification
power.
CONCLUSION
This research is following a trend to effective-
ly identify various compounds found in the root of
red beet and find its prophylactic role in designing
and developing pharmacological drugs with less
side effects. In vitro investigations in the present
study provide substantial evidence that beetroot
peel; an inedible waste product is a potent source of
antioxidant, antimicrobial agent and anticancer
activity thereby indicating its use as a value-added
component for functional.
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Received: 25.05.2018
Accepted: 13.06.2018
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Hossam S El-Beltagi
Faculty of Agriculture,
Biochemistry Department,
Cairo University,
Giza, Cairo – Egypt
e-mail: helbeltagi@agr.cu.edu.eg