Cocoa bean husk, a by-product of cocoa processing, exhibits potent antioxidant and anticancer effects on prostate cancer cells due to its high phenolic compound content.
The methodology of the study involved fractionating ethanol crude extract of cocoa bean husk (CBH) and comparing the total polyphenol and flavonoid content, as well as radical scavenging activities, of the various fractions. The phenolic compounds present in the ethanol ethyl acetate (EAF) and butanol (BF) fractions were further analysed using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). These fractions were then applied to prostate cancer cell lines PC3 and DU145 to ascertain their impact.
The results indicated that the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the highest phytochemical content and antioxidant activity, closely followed by the butanol fraction. The presence of abundant phenolic compounds, namely catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidin B, was observed in both fractions. Moreover, both fractions induced apoptosis and DNA fragmentation in the prostate cancer cells in a concentration-dependant manner, demonstrating their potential anticancer effects.
