Abstract
Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) are among the most appreciated fruits worldwide because of their organoleptic properties and nutritional value. The accurate phytochemical composition and nutritional value of sweet cherries depends on the climatic region, cultivar, and bioaccessibility and bioavailability of specific compounds. Nevertheless, sweet cherry extracts are highly enriched in several phenolic compounds with relevant bioactivity. Over the years, technological advances in chemical analysis and fields as varied as proteomics, genomics and bioinformatics, have allowed the detailed characterization of the sweet cherry bioactive phytonutrients and their biological function. In this context, the effect of sweet cherries on suppressing important events in the carcinogenic process, such as oxidative stress and inflammation, was widely documented. Interestingly, results from our research group and others have widened the action of sweet cherries to many hallmarks of cancer, namely metabolic reprogramming. The present review discusses the anticarcinogenic potential of sweet cherries by addressing their phytochemical composition, the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of specific bioactive compounds, and the existing knowledge concerning the effects against oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, deregulated cell proliferation and apoptosis, invasion and metastization, and metabolic alterations. Globally, this review highlights the prospective use of sweet cherries as a dietary supplement or in cancer treatment.
Highlights
Plant-based natural medicines are unquestionably humanity’s oldest and longestabiding source of health treatments, as well as some of the most versatile [1,2,3]
The same study reported that sweet cherry extracts enriched in proanthocyanins or whole extract enhanced the levels of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF), cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-9 and -3, and Bax/Bcl2 protein ratio (Figure 2), with no effect observed on caspase-8, indicating that only the intrinsic pathway was activated [80]
In vitro studies in MDA-MB-453 cells showed that sweet cherry juice extract enriched in anthocyanins decreased invasion capacity (Table 2, [80]), which follows other findings showing that anthocyanins play an important role inhibiting tumor growth, invasion and metastization [88]
Summary
Plant-based natural medicines are unquestionably humanity’s oldest and longestabiding source of health treatments, as well as some of the most versatile [1,2,3]. Despite being faded out in favor of other medicinal processes as technology progressed, the use of natural products in the pharmacological pipeline has remained important and even undergone a resurgence [2] This includes the application of plant-based medicines in the field of cancer research and treatment [4]. Sweet cherries are very nutritious fruits with their proposed health benefits mostly stemming from their high levels of phytochemicals, moderate levels of carbohydrates, and low amounts of calories [10]. Their precise nutritional composition is highly dependent on external influences and processing [10].
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