Sorghum Phenolic Compounds Are Associated with Cell Growth Inhibition through Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Hepatocarcinoma and Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells.

Phenolic compounds in some specialty sorghums have been associated with cancer prevention. However, direct evidence and the underlying mechanisms for this are mostly unknown. In this study, phenolics were extracted from 13 selected sorghum accessions with black pericarp while F10000 hybrid with white pericarp was used as a control, and cell growth inhibition was studied in hepatocarcinoma HepG2 and colorectal adenocarcinoma Caco-2 cells. Total phenolic contents of the 13 high phenolic grains, as determined by Folin-Ciocalteu, were 30-64 mg GAE/g DW in the phenolic extracts of various accessions compared with the control F10000 at 2 mg GAE/g DW. Treatment of HepG2 with the extracted phenolics at 0-200 μM GAE up to 72 h resulted in a dose- and time-dependent reduction in cell numbers. The values of IC