Asparagus Research Articles

White asparagus stem proteins, from waste to interface stabilizer in food foams

White asparagus stems are a large waste stream that, despite having a high nutritional quality, is currently underutilized. Plant waste stream utilization is often based on extensive processing, which uses copious amounts of resources, and can negatively affect protein functionality. Hence, our study aimed to explore alternative processing routes and characterize the effect of asparagus extract composition on interfacial and foaming properties.Screw pressing followed by mild purification methods was used to obtain and purify protein extracts from white asparagus stems. Mild purification by filtration removed particles and purification by dialysis removed molecular impurities. Removal of particles and molecular impurities led to improved interfacial properties, as shown with drop tensiometry. The particles disturbed interfacial network formation and the presence of small impurities reduced network density and in-plane interactions. Extracts without particles and molecular impurities formed a dense interface with stiff solid-like behavior and strong in-plane interactions, which resulted in superior foam stability. Additionally, foamability was improved after filtration and/or purification, which could be related to the air bubble size and adsorption rate.In this study, we identified critical factors for interface and foam stabilizing properties of asparagus proteins, and we revealed the great potential of mildly processed asparagus stem extracts for application in food foams.

Cloning and Functional Analysis of NtHDR in ‘Jinzhanyintai’ of Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis M.Roem

The gene encoding 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl-4-pyrophosphate reductase, a key enzyme at the end of the methylerythritol 4-phosphate pathway (MEP), was cloned from the petals of Narcissus tazetta var. Chinensis ‘Jinzhanyintai’ and named NtHDR (accession number OQ739816). NtHDR exhibits a full-length coding sequence spanning 1380 base pairs, encoding a total of 460 amino acids. Through phylogenetic-tree analysis, it has been determined that NtHDR shared the closest evolutionary relationship with monocotyledons, specifically Asparagus officinalis and Zingiber officinale. Utilizing quantitative real-time PCR analysis, it was observed that NtHDR exhibited significant expression in both petals and corona, with expression levels varying throughout the flowering process of Narcissus. Specifically, in petals, NtHDR expression demonstrated a pattern of initial increase followed by subsequent decrease, while in corona, it consistently increased. Subsequent subcellular-localization experiments indicated that NtHDR was localized within the chloroplasts. To investigate the functional impact of NtHDR, a stable transformation was performed, where NtHDR was introduced into Nicotiana benthamiana. The resulting transgenic N. benthamiana flowers were analyzed using solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (SPME-GC-MS) to characterize their volatile components. The analysis revealed the presence of the monoterpene compound linalool, as well as the phenylpropanoids benzyl alcohol and phenylethanol, within the floral fragrance components of the transgenic N. benthamiana plants. However, these compounds were absent in the floral fragrance components of wild-type tobacco plants, thus highlighting the impact of NtHDR transformation on the floral scent profile.

Evaluation of Trichoderma spp. on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi and Fusarium wilt Control in Asparagus Crop.

Among the key diseases affecting the asparagus crop (Asparagus officinalis L.), vascular wilting of asparagus caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi stands out worldwide. This disease significantly shortens the longevity of the crop and limits economic production. Traditional control measures have been largely ineffective, and chemical control methods are difficult to apply, making biological control approaches, specifically the use of Trichoderma, an economical, effective, and risk-free alternative. This study aimed to identify the main factors that affect the efficacy of biopesticides studied as Biological Control Agents (BCAs) against Fusarium wilt in asparagus and to assess the efficacy of Trichoderma-based biopesticides under greenhouse and semi-field conditions. We evaluated the response of three Trichoderma spp. (T. atroviride, T. asperellum, and T. saturnisporum) to environmental variables, such as temperature and water activity, and their antagonistic capacity against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi. All three Trichoderma species inhibited the growth of the pathogen in vitro. A decrease in water activity led to a greater reduction in the growth rate. The efficacy of the three biological control agents decreased with higher temperatures, resulting in minimal inhibition, particularly under conditions of restricted available water in the environment. The effect of the fungal inoculum density was also analyzed at two different temperatures. A direct correlation between the amount of inoculum and the score on the Disease Severity Index (DSI) was observed. A notable reduction in DSI was evident in treatments with high inoculum density (106 conidium/mL) for all three species of Trichoderma tested at both temperatures. In greenhouse and semi-field tests, we observed less disease control than expected, although T. asperellum and T. atroviride showed lower disease severity indices and increased the dry weight of seedlings and crowns, whereas T. saturnisporum resulted in the highest disease rate and lowest dry weight. This work highlights that the efficacy of Trichoderma as BCAs is influenced by various factors, including the quantity of soil inocula, and environmental conditions. The study findings have strong implications for selecting appropriate Trichoderma species for controlling specific pathogens under specific environmental conditions.

Wild Asparagus Shoots Constitute a Healthy Source of Bioactive Compounds.

Wild Asparagus shoots are consumed worldwide, although most species remain understudied. In this work, a total of four wild Asparagus species were collected from different locations and analyzed compared with farmed A. officinalis. Shoots were screened for (i) phenolic compounds by HPLC-DAD and LC-MS; (ii) total phenolic acids and total flavonoid content by the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride methods; (iii) vitamin C by HPLC-DAD; (iv) antioxidant activity by the DPPH and ABTS•+ methods; and (v) the in vitro antiproliferative activities against HT-29 colorectal cancer cells by the MTT assay. Phenolics ranged from 107.5 (A. aphyllus) to 605.4 mg/100 g dry weight (dw) (A. horridus). Vitamin C ranged from 15.8 (A. acutifolius) to 22.7 mg/100 g fresh weight (fw) (A. officinalis). The antioxidant activity was similar in all species, standing out in A. officinalis with 5.94 (DPPH) and 4.64 (ABTS) mmol TE/100 g dw. Among phenolics, rutin reached the highest values (574 mg/100 g dw in A. officinalis), followed by quercetin, nicotiflorin, asterin, and narcissin. The MTT assay revealed the inhibitory effects of ethanol extracts against HT-29 cancer cells, highlighting the cell growth inhibition exercised by A. albus (300 µg/mL after 72 h exposure to cells). This work improves knowledge on the phytochemicals and bioactivities of the shoots of wild Asparagus species and confirms their suitability for use as functional foods.

Host range and molecular and ultrastructural analyses of Asparagus virus 1 pathotypes isolated from garden asparagus Asparagus officinalis L.

Asparagus samples were examined from growing areas of Germany and selected European as well as North, Central and South American countries. Overall, 474 samples were analyzed for Asparagus virus 1 (AV1) using DAS-ELISA. In our survey, 19 AV1 isolates were further characterized. Experimental transmission to 11 species belonging to Aizoaceae, Amarantaceae, Asparagaceae, and Solanaceae succeeded. The ultrastructure of AV1 infection in asparagus has been revealed and has been compared with the one in indicator plants. The cylindrical inclusion (CI) protein, a core factor in viral replication, localized within the cytoplasm and in systemic infections adjacent to the plasmodesmata. The majority of isolates referred to pathotype I (PI). These triggered a hypersensitive resistance in inoculated leaves of Chenopodium spp. and were incapable of infecting Nicotiana spp. Only pathotype II (PII) and pathotype III (PIII) infected Nicotiana benthamiana systemically but differed in their virulence when transmitted to Chenopodium spp. The newly identified PIII generated amorphous inclusion bodies and degraded chloroplasts during systemic infection but not in local lesions of infected Chenopodium spp. PIII probably evolved via recombination in asparagus carrying a mixed infection by PI and PII. Phylogeny of the coat protein region recognized two clusters, which did not overlap with the CI-associated grouping of pathotypes. These results provide evidence for ongoing modular evolution of AV1.

Implications of Asparagus racemosus and Terminalia chebula extracts on oxazolone induced inflammatory bowel disease in Danio rerio (zebrafish)

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) occurs in the human intestine without any definitive etiology for which there is no cure yet. The present study analyses the anti-inflammatory and anti Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) potentials of the methanol extract of Indian herbal plants Asparagus racemosus (AR) and Terminalia chebula (TC). First, we prepared methanolic extracts of AR root and TC fruit using the Soxhlet procedure and analyzed their phytochemical composition by GC-MS. Second, the extracts were used against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus cultures and observed for growth and biofilm inhibition. Third, the anti-oxidant assays were performed for the same extracts. Finally, we studied pathological and hematological analysis to study a reduction in the number of inflammatory cells following oxazolone-induced IBD in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Both extracts contain steroids, terpenoids, tannins, phenols, and carbohydrates as active ingredients with moderate antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 12.5 μg/ml (TC) and 25 μg/ml (AR) against both bacteria. AR extract showed high biofilm inhibition on E. coli (80.8 ± 0.81%) and B. cereus (92.8 ± 1.08%) at 800 μg/mL and showed high DPPH radical scavenging activity IC50 value of 139.9 μg/mL. Further in IBD zebrafish, AR (14 mg/L) and TC (60 mg/L) exhibited a significant reduction in inflammatory cells in blood and improved pathological scores in the gut compared with positive drug Prednisolone (50 mg/L). Moreover, T. chebula showed a greater reduction in the number of inflammatory cells recruited in the intestine of IBD-induced fish compared to A. racemosus at the time point and dose examined.

Sustainable valorization of co-products from asparagus cultivation by obtaining bioactive compounds.

Asparagus cultivation generates every year a significant amount of by-products that consist of root and frond. Leaving these residues on the fields after harvesting negatively affects the following asparagus crops, since they release autotoxic (allelopathic) substances into the soil, whose accumulation causes that asparagus yields gradually decrease over the years, becoming an unprofitable crop in a period of about 10 to 15 years. This phenomenon is known as decay and forces the entire asparagus plantation to be lifted (abandoned). On the other hand, once a certain plantation has been lifted, it is not profitable to immediately re-plant new asparagus plants, since the yields that are achieved are never more than half of normal ones. It is necessary to wait an average of 4 or 5 years before replanting asparagus in these lands. This phenomenon is known as the replanting problem, and causes the need to continually search for new land for growing asparagus. Another added problem for farmers is that the elimination of those plant residues from asparagus cultivation entails significant economic costs. For all these reasons, it is essential to seek alternatives for the management of that waste that improve the sustainability of the crop within the scope of the circular economy. In this context, this work proposes the valorization of asparagus by-products by obtaining bioactive compounds. Main objectives of the present work include: i) phytochemical analyses of asparagus fronds and roots; ii) obtaining bioactive extracts, with distinct technological and nutritional functionalities, by using an environmentally sustainable extraction process, easy to implement in the practice of a food industry and with methods compatible with food use. Characterization of asparagus by-products shown that fronds had an average flavonoid content of 2.637 ± 0.014 g/Kg fresh weight, which is up to 5-6 times higher than that of the spears; and roots contained up to 10 times more saponins (2.25 g/Kg fresh weight), which were accompanied by lower quantities of phenolic acids (368 mg/Kg fresh weight). Statistical analysis revealed that those phytochemical contents were mainly determined by location and phase of the vegetative cycle, whereas genetic factors did not significantly influence them. Based on the results of the present work, the proposal for the recovery and valorization of asparagus by-products is based on obtaining two bioactive extracts, the first being an antioxidant extract enriched in flavonoids, with an average yield of 10.7 g/Kg fresh frond and a flavonoid richness of 17%; and the second, a saponins extract with an average yield of 10.3 g/Kg fresh root and a richness of 51%. These natural extracts have great techno-functional potential in the agri-food industry and some of them are already being tested as additives in the preparation of soups, breads and meat products.

Genome-wide analysis of genetic diversity in a germplasm collection including wild relatives and interspecific clones of garden asparagus.

The Asparagus genus includes approximately 240 species, the most important of which is garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.), as this is a vegetable crop cultivated worldwide for its edible spear. Along with garden asparagus, other species are also cultivated (e.g., Asparagus maritimus L.) or have been proposed as untapped sources of variability in breeding programs (e.g., Asparagus acutifolius L.). In the present work, we applied reduced-representation sequencing to examine a panel of 378 diverse asparagus genotypes, including commercial hybrids, interspecific lines, wild relatives of garden asparagus, and doubled haploids currently used in breeding programs, which enabled the identification of more than 200K single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These SNPs were used to assess the extent of linkage disequilibrium in the diploid gene pool of asparagus and combined with preliminary phenotypic information to conduct genome-wide association studies for sex and traits tied to spear quality and production. Moreover, using the same phenotypic and genotypic information, we fitted and cross-validated genome-enabled prediction models for the same set of traits. Overall, our analyses demonstrated that, unlike the diversity detected in wild species related to garden asparagus and in interspecific crosses, cultivated and wild genotypes of A. officinalis L. show a narrow genetic basis, which is a contributing factor hampering the genetic improvement of this crop. Estimating the extent of linkage disequilibrium and providing the first example of genome-wide association study and genome-enabled prediction in this species, we concluded that the asparagus panel examined in the present study can lay the foundation for determination of the genetic bases of agronomically important traits and for the implementation of predictive breeding tools to sustain breeding.

Integrating network pharmacology and experimental verification to explore the pharmacological mechanisms of asparagus against polycystic ovary syndrome

BackgroundPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common reproductive endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age that still lacks effective treatment. Inflammation is one of the important features of PCOS. Asparagus (ASP) has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-aging pharmacological effects, and its anti-tumor effects have been demonstrated in a variety of tumors. However, the role and mechanism of ASP in PCOS remain unclear.MethodsThe active components of ASP and the key therapeutic targets for PCOS were obtained by network pharmacology. Molecular docking was used to simulate the binding of PRKCA to the active components of ASP. The effects of ASP on inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways in PCOS, and the regulation of PRKCA were examined by KGN, a human derived granulosa cell line. PCOS mouse model validated the results of in vivo experiments.ResultsNetwork pharmacology identified 9 major active ingredients of ASP with 73 therapeutic targets for PCOS. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment yielded 101 PCOS-related signaling pathways. The hub gene PRKCA was obtained after taking the gene intersection of the top 4 pathways. Molecular docking showed the binding of PRKCA to the 7 active components in ASP. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that ASP alleviated the course of PCOS through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects. ASP can partially restore the low expression of PRKCA in the PCOS models.ConclusionThe therapeutic effect of ASP on PCOS is mainly achieved by targeting PRKCA through the 7 active components of ASP. Mechanistically, ASP alleviated the course of PCOS through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effects, and PRKCA was its potential target.

Growth and yield of one-year-old asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) plants by two cropping types in Japan

Growth and yield of one-year-old asparagus (<i>Asparagus officinalis</i>) plants by two cropping types in Japan

Asparagus officinalis (L.): yield and field performance of 10 genotypes cultivated in a semi-arid environment

<i>Asparagus officinalis</i> (L.): yield and field performance of 10 genotypes cultivated in a semi-arid environment

Elucidating the flavour of cooked white asparagus by combining metabolomics and taste panel analysis

A typical feature of cooked white spears of Asparagus officinalis is their specific flavour. This has been the focus of several recent instrumental and panel studies. Few of these report on the comparison of raw and cooked materials which may lead to a deeper understanding of the flavour chemistry and compositional shifts occurring during food preparation. Here, solid-phase microextraction GC-MS and LC-MS analyses of raw and cooked spears were performed to profile asparagus metabolites. A taste panel evaluated flavour attributes of the same materials. Unsupervised and supervised statistical approaches were applied to investigate the profiles and link metabolomics and sensory results. Flavonoids, saponins and medium-chain volatile carbonyls were more abundant in the raw spears while sulphur-containing volatile compounds, oxidized fatty acids and phenolic acids were more abundant in the cooked spears. GC-Olfactometry-MS was also performed and revealed 35 odour-active volatile flavour compounds. We have proposed and discussed the key biochemical pathways and chemical transformations relevant to asparagus ‘flavour’.

Chemical Characterization and In Vitro Gas Production Kinetics of Alternative Feed Resources for Small Ruminants in the Maltese Islands.

The ever-increasing human population, the problem associated with climate change and recent crises-COVID-19 disease and trade conflicts-all impacted on the availability and cost of animal feed raw materials. This is clearly visible in realities which heavily rely on importation such as islands and small states, where producers involved in the agricultural sector were strongly affected by the sharp increase in prices. To deal with these global issues, alternative resources are perceived to replace conventional ingredients. This work aimed at assessing the nutritive value of different resources (sheep feed, mature carob, Maltese bread, wild asparagus, prickly lettuce, and loquat) for small ruminants present in the Maltese Islands, analyzing their chemical composition, gas production kinetics and antioxidant properties. In general, the variation in chemical composition resulted in different rumen fermentation kinetics (p < 0.007). The ratio between GP-24 h and GP-48 h was higher in Maltese bread than other substrates; loquat, prickly lettuce and wild asparagus showed lower fermentation kinetics in accordance with their high NDF and ADF contents. The antioxidant activity may be partially related to the polyphenolic content that was higher in wild asparagus, prickly lettuce and loquat. All feed characteristic confirmed their potential to be included as ingredients in ruminant diets and as a source of fiber.

Anti-inflammatory Activity of Asparagus officinalis Extract on Liver Inflammation Carrageenan-Induced in Swiss Albino Mice

The present work was designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory impact of Asparagus officinalis (AO) extract on liver inflammation CGN-induced.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: Forty male Swiss albino mice were divided randomly into four groups, 10/each. 1st group kept as untreated control, 2nd group treated daily with oral dose of (500 mg/kg) AO extract for one week, 3rd group treated with ip single dose of 2%W/V carrageenan (CGN) and left for one week, 4th group treated with carrageenan as group 3 and AO extract as group 2. Results: CGN injection resulted in significant increase of WBCs and platelets, elevation of liver enzymes and proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL6). Morphological feature of tails showed severe necrosis, histopathological examination of tail tissue displayed heavy incidence of inflammatory cells in dermis layer and liver revealed severe inflammation, steatosis and ballooning. Meanwhile, post-treatment with AO extract after CGN showed significant decrease of WBCs, platelets and physiological parameters. Histopathological analysis revealed less incidence of inflammation in tail and liver tissue besides to improvement of tissues and pathological score. Conclusion: It was concluded that AO extract possesses intense anti-inflammatory effect on liver inflamed by CGN.

Root Growth and Defense Response of Seedlings against Fusarium oxysporum in Sand Culture and In Vitro—A Comparison of Two Screening Approaches for Asparagus Cultivars

Two rapid asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) screening methods, in sand culture and in vitro, were tested to evaluate the response of young seedlings against F. oxysporum f. sp. asparagi (isolate Foa1). Root morphological parameters were evaluated and correlated with the symptomatology and expression of the defense-related genes at 5 and 7 dpi. In sand cultivation, the Foa1-inoculated cultivars showed no visible disease symptoms on their roots until 7 dpi. Two-factorial ANOVA statistics found no significant interaction between the cultivars and treatments for most root parameters but some differences between the cultivars. The in vitro Foa1-inoculated cultivars showed high susceptibility according to their symptomatology and differed greatly in the length of the primary root at 5 dpi. In some cultivars, the primary root length and root surface area were higher upon Foa1 inoculation. The expression changes were very different among the cultivars, with significant induction of PR1, POX, and PAL at 5 dpi in all cultivars in vitro but only in two cultivars in sand cultivation. The in vitro screening method, although more artificial, seemed to be more reliable than sand cultivation since the fungus was able to develop well in the culture medium. In sand-filled pots, the fungus may have been hindered in its development, even though a considerable higher amount of Foa1 was inoculated. In addition, the fungal growth was easily trackable in tubes, while in sand cultivation, the results were only visible after pulling the seedlings out of the pots 12 dpi.

Synthetic seeds for in vitro preservation of Asparagus officinalis L.

BackgroundAsparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a perennial vegetable of economic importance for its high nutritional and medicinal value. Male plants are more desirable because of their higher spear yield. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the gibberellin inhibitors; paclobutrazol (PBZ) and cycocel (CCC) for in vitro preservation by encapsulation of in vitro-derived shoot tips of the superior germplasm of the first generation of asparagus male hybrid; cultivar Mary Washington 500W. MethodsAn efficient technique for synthetic seeds production was achieved, consisting of 3% (w/v) Na-alginate dissolved in water, Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium, MS medium with the growth inhibitors; PBZ and CCC at different concentrations, and 0.1 M calcium chloride (CaCl2.2H2O). Synthetic seeds were stored at 4 ℃ and then cultured after different storage durations (0, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 weeks) on MS medium supplemented with 1 mg l−1 kinetin, 0.2 mg l−1 naphthalene acetic acid and 0.5 mg l−1 gibberellic acid for shoot tip multiplication; then, recovered shoots were transferred to MS medium supplemented with 1 mg l−1 indole butyric acid and 0.5 mg l−1 PBZ for rooting.ResultsThe beads containing 1 mg l−1 PBZ considered the optimum for producing complete well-developed plantlets of Asparagus officinalis from recovered shoot tips after 24 weeks of storage that successfully acclimatized in the greenhouse.ConclusionsThis protocol is efficient for in vitro preservation by encapsulation of shoot tips and regeneration of Asparagus officinalis F1 male hybrid (Mary Washington 500w), using anti-gibberellin plant growth regulators within the beads to prolong the duration of storage and provide a continuous supply of the plant.

Spear yield and quality of wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.) as an understory crop in two olive systems

Spear yield and quality of wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.) as an understory crop in two olive systems

Transcriptome Sequencing of Agave amaniensis Reveals Shoot-Related Expression Patterns of Expansin A Genes in Agave.

Agave species are widely planted for fiber production. However, the molecular basis of agave fiber development has not been well understood. In this study, we performed a transcriptomic analysis in A. amaniensi, a well-known variety with high-quality fiber production. Approximately 43.87 million clean reads were obtained using Illumina sequencing. The de novo assembly produced 66,746 unigrams, 54% of which were annotated in a public database. In the Nr database, 21,490 unigenes of A. amaniensis were shown to be most closely related to Asparagus officinalis. Nine expansin A orthologs with full coding regions were obtained, which were named EXP1a, EXP1b, EXP2, EXP3, EXP4a, EXP4b, EXP11, EXP12, and EXP13. The maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree revealed the species-specific expansion of expansin genes in Arabidopsis, rice and agave. The expression analysis suggested the negative correlation between the expression of expansin genes and the leaf growth rate, except AhEXP11. Moreover, expansin genes were differentially affected by abiotic and biotic stresses. Notably, AhEXP2 expression level was highly upgraded after the infection of Phytophthora nicotiana. Nutrient deficiency also influent expansin genes expression. Together, our research will benefit future studies related to fiber development, disease resistance and nutrient usage in agave.

Manipulation of plant height in garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated aspSPL14 allele editing.

Manipulation of plant height in garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated aspSPL14 allele editing.

Mechanism of action of Asparagus officinalis extract against multiple myeloma using bioinformatics tools, in silico and in vitro study.

Introduction: Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a perennial flowering plant species. Its main components have tumor-prevention, immune system-enhancement, and anti-inflammation effects. Network pharmacology is a powerful approach that is being applied increasingly to research of herbal medicines. Herb identification, study of compound targets, network construction, and network analysis have been used to elucidate how herbal medicines work. However, the interaction of bioactive substances from asparagus with the targets involved in multiple myeloma (MM) has not been elucidated. We explored the mechanism of action of asparagus in MM through network pharmacology and experimental verification. Methods: The active ingredients and corresponding targets of asparagus were acquired from the Traditional Chinese Medicine System Pharmacology database, followed by identification of MM-related target genes using GeneCards and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man databases, which were matched with the potential targets of asparagus. Potential targets were identified and a target network of traditional Chinese medicine was constructed. The STRING database and Cytoscape were utilized to create protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and further screening of core targets. Results: The intersection of target genes and core target genes of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) pathway was enriched, the top-five core target genes were selected, and the binding affinity of corresponding compounds to the top-five core targets was analyzed using molecular docking. Network pharmacology identified nine active components of asparagus from databases based on oral bioavailability and drug similarity, and predicted 157 potential targets related to asparagus. Enrichment analyses showed that "steroid receptor activity" and the "PI3K/AKT signaling pathway" were the most enriched biological process and signaling pathway, respectively. According to the top-10 core genes and targets of the PPI pathway, AKT1, interleukin (IL)-6, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)A, MYC, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) were selected for molecular docking. The latter showed that five core targets of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway could bind to quercetin, among which EGFR, IL-6, and MYC showed strong docking, and the diosgenin ligand could bind to VEGFA. Cell experiments showed that asparagus, through the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway, inhibited the proliferation and migration of MMcells, and caused retardation and apoptosis of MMcells in the G0/G1 phase. Discussion: In this study, the anti-cancer activity of asparagus against MM was demonstrated using network pharmacology, and potential pharmacological mechanisms were inferred using in vitro experimental data.