Phenolic rich extracts from cowpea sprouts decrease cell proliferation and enhance 5-fluorouracil effect in human colorectal cancer cell lines

It is known that diets high in legumes can help in the prevention and/or reduction of colorectal cancer. These effects may result, in part, from their high phenolic content. The aims of this study were to characterize the effect of sprouting on phenolic content and antioxidant activity, and test the anti-colorectal cancer effects including possible potentiation of 5-fluorouracil efficacy. Sprouting increased 1.7-fold the total phenolic content and 2.8-fold the antioxidant activity relative to raw extracts. The extract from sprouts produced a significant decrease in cell viability particularly in HCT116 and HCT15. The sprout extracts also induced significant cell death in all cell lines. The combination of extracts of cowpea sprouts with 5-fluorouracil increased sensitivity to the drug in the most resistant cells. Overall, spouting increased the anti-colorectal cancer activity of cowpea and potentiated 5-fluorouracil efficacy which warrants further research on the potential of cowpea sprouts as anti-colorectal cancer functional foods.