Effect of black raspberry ( Rubus occidentalis L.) extract variation conditioned by cultivar, production site, and fruit maturity stage on colon cancer cell proliferation.

Black raspberries have been shown to inhibit multiple stages of oral, esophageal, and colon cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate how black raspberry extract variability conditioned by horticultural factors affected the antiproliferative activity of 75 black raspberry extracts using an in vitro colon cancer cell model. HT-29 cells grown in 96-well plates were treated with freeze-dried extracts at 0.6 and 1.2 mg of extract/mL of medium. Percent cell growth inhibition for each concentration of the extracts was determined using the sulforhodamine B assay. All extracts significantly inhibited the growth of HT-29 colon cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. Cell proliferation was significantly influenced by cultivar, production site, and stage of maturity. The lack of correlation between growth inhibition and extract total phenolic and total monomeric anthocyanin assays suggested horticultural parameters influence bioactivity in a complex manner.