To achieve greater amplitude for the antiproliferative activity of
different broccoli maturity stages (sprouts, seedlings and inflorescence)
biofortified or not with selenium and knowing that the
same sample can present this differentiated activity against the
cell lines, we used human tumour cell lines of different histological
and genetic origins. The concentrations of broccoli extracts at different
maturation stages required for 50% (GI50) cell growth inhibition
are summarised in Table 2.
The non-polar BS extract showed antiproliferative activity that
was slightly higher than that of sample BC with cytostatic activity
for lines 786-0 (kidney, GI50 = 123.6 lgmL1) and MCF-7 (breast,
GI50 = 96.7 lg mL1). The non-polar extracts of MS and MC showed
selective cytostatic activity for line 786-0 with GI50 12.0 and
20.7 lgmL1, respectively. Furthermore, the non-polar extract of
MC was the only extract to show cytocidal activity for line U251
(glioma, GI50 = 28.5 lgmL1) (Fig. 1). The non-polar extracts of IS
and IC showed weak antiproliferative activity.
The polar extracts were obtained from the non-polar extracts,
and the latter initially remove compounds that exhibit low