Antiproliferative effects of bioaccessible fractions of honey from Sicilian black honey bees (Apis melliferassp. sicula) on human colorectal cancer cells.

First published: May 27, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.15169

Commentary

This study was conducted to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of the bioaccessible fraction (BF) of Sicilian honey (Sulla, Thistle and Dill) of three different floral origins and Manuka honey (gold standard) by the INFOGEST static digestion method, which is considered standardized.

To compare their effects based on total polyphenol content (TPC), differentiated CaCo-2 cells (intestinal-like), undifferentiated CaCo-2 and HCT-116 colon tumor-like cells were incubated with honey BF for 24 hours and analyzed for viability, apoptosis, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), ROS and cell cycle.

Results showed that TPCs after digestion were ranked in the order of dill>thistle>sula>manuka. We did not observe a decrease in the cell viability of differentiated CaCo-2 cells, but the viability decreased to 25-85% (CaCo-2) and 20-80% (HCT-116).

This decrease in survival was caused by cell cycle blockade with increased apoptosis and increased ROS levels due to loss of MMPs, and in agreement with post-digestion TPC, we found that thistle and dill were the most effective honeys.

Manuka, which is popular in Japan, was found to be the least effective.