Colon cancer is the third leading cause of death in the US. Herbal teas and spices may reduce the incidence of chronic diseases, including colon cancer. The objectives of this study were to determine the chemopreventive effects of herbal teas and cinnamon in an in-vitro cell model and to evaluate the inhibitory effects of selected extracts on enzymes associated with inflammatory disease. Effects of raspberry leaf (0.5-2.0 mg/mL), strawberry leaf (0.4-1.0 mg/mL), hibiscus flower (4.0-10.0 mg/mL) and cinnamon (400-1500 μg/mL) were evaluated for cytotoxicity, induction of caspase and DNA fragmentation in colon cancer (Caco-2) cells to determine possible chemopreventive effects. Effects of extracts on inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were also measured to determine possible anti-inflammatory potential. Caco-2 cells were obtained from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and maintained in Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium with 10% fetal bovine serum. As concentrations of tea increased, LDH release from Caco-2 cells increased, with cytotoxicity ranging from 1%-80% (hibiscus flower 1.0 mg/mL and strawberry leaf (1.0 mg/mL) for teas. All extract concentrations of herbal teas and cinnamon were able to enhance caspase-3 activity with lowest activity (4.4 mmol/ min/mL) observed in the lowest concentration of cinnamon (400 μg/mL) and highest activity (6.0 mmol/min/mL) seen in the highest concentration of raspberry leaf (2 mg/mL). Tea and spice extracts were able to induce apoptosis in Caco-2 cells exhibited by increased DNA fragmentation (expressed as enrichment factor). Enrichment factor ranged from 1.0-1.5 (raspberry leaf 1.0 mg/mL and hibiscus 10.0 mg/mL). Teas and cinnamon exhibited anti-inflammatory potential by inhibiting COX-2 by 0.6%-8.0% (raspberry leaf 1.0 mg/mL and strawberry leaf 0.8 mg/mL). The results suggest that herbal teas and cinnamon may have significant benefits in chemoprevention.

Spices (turmeric (T), ginger (GI), and garlic (GA) (TGG)) have been used for centuries for food preservation, flavors, and medicinal properties. Research suggests that TGG contain potent antioxidants that may prevent and/or delay chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart diseases. Heat treatment of spices may potentially increase antioxidative activity by modifying the inherent chemical structure of potent antioxidative compounds in spices. The purpose of this study was to determine the anti-diabetic potential of thermally treated TGG on Wistar male rats. Two-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 8 groups (N = 24, n = 3) including control AIN-93G Diet (C) and high fat (HFD) and high sugar (HS) (glucose 10%) diet and treatment HFD/HS diets containing T, GA, GI (1% and 2%) singly for 11 weeks. Weekly feed intake, body weight, and blood glucose levels were recorded. Rats were sacrificed at 13 wks. by CO 2 asphyxiation. Liver, pancreas, adipose (thigh), cecum, femur, urine, and serum samples were collected for quantitative determination of detoxification and antioxidative enzyme analysis, bone mineralization, and cholesterol using standard protocol. Of spice-incorporated diets, rats fed turmeric (1%) exhibited the lowest reduction in blood glucose levels at 90 mg/dL compared to the control 58 mg/dL. Additionally rats fed TGG at both concentrations resulted in an induction of antioxidant (GSH) and antioxidant enzyme (GPx) activity with significantly (p ≤ 0.05) higher levels compared to the control. Serum total cholesterol levels were lower in spice-incorporated diets compared to control HFD/HS fed rats. Therefore, the use of thermal application on spices presents promise in potentiating the antioxidant effects and thereby their potential health promoting properties.

Spices have been used for centuries for food preservation, flavors, and medicinal properties. Research suggests that garlic, turmeric, and ginger contain potent antioxidants that may prevent and/or delay chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Heat treatment of spices may potentially increase antioxidative activity by modifying the inherent chemical structure of potent antioxidative compounds within spices. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of thermal treatment of garlic, ginger, and turmeric on total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity, ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP), trolox activity (TEAC), lipase, a-amylase, and a-glucosidase inhibition. Conventional stovetop heating of selected spices was performed followed by methanolic and aqueous extractions (1-5 minutes; 70˚C-130˚C). Overall methanolic extracts had higher phytochemical, antioxidative, and anti-diabetic potential. However, aqueous garlic extracts exhibited higher phytochemical and antioxidative potential over methanolic garlic extracts. The highest TPC for aqueous garlic extracts was observed at 1 minute (14.11 mg GAE/g) while methanolic garlic extracts at 1 minute were significantly lower (1.72 mg GAE/g). Methanolic turmeric extracts had highest TPC at 5 minutes (28.55 mg GAE/g). Time and temperature influenced antioxidant activity in the spices. Turmeric and ginger (methanolic extracts) resulted in higher percent inhibition of DPPH radical with an increase in time (5 minute) turmeric (86.9%) and ginger (79.09%) at 7.9 mg/mL concentration. The results of this study revealed both solvent and time for thermal treatment of spices influenced antioxidative potential as determined using DPPH and FRAP assays. Therefore, the use of thermal application on spices presents promise in potentiating the antioxidant content and thereby their potential health promoting properties.

Colon cancer is the third leading cause of death in the US. Selected herbal teas and spices may reduce incidence of chronic diseases, including cancer. The objective of this study was to identify the effect of strawberry leaf, raspberry leaf, hibiscus teas and cinnamon on azoxymethane (AOM)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in Fisher 344 male rats. After acclimatization period (1 wk), 49 male weanling rats were divided into 16 groups. Control (CON) group fed AIN-93G diet; 15 treatment groups were administered control diet + strawberry leaf tea (STW), raspberry leaf tea (RAS), hibiscus tea (HIB), cinnamon (CIN), strawberry leaf tea + cinnamon (STW + CIN), raspberry leaf tea + cinnamon, (RAS + CIN), hibiscus tea + cinnamon (HIB + CIN), and strawberry leaf tea + raspberry leaf tea + hibiscus tea + cinnamon in combination (COM) at 2 levels each (teas added at 1% and 2%; CIN added at 2.5% and 5%). Rats received 24 mg/kg body weight AOM in saline s/c at 7 and 8 weeks of age. Animals received experimental diets until sacrificed by CO 2 asphyxiation (17 weeks of age). ACF were enumerated in colons. Hepatic antioxidant enzymes were determined; superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and glutathione (GH). Treatment groups had reduction in ACF compared to CON (154). Lowest ACF observed in HIB 2% + CIN 5% (13.16) with 91.45% reduction compared to CON. ACF observed in treatment groups administered teas and cinnamon combinations were lower than those administered teas singly. SOD and CAT activities in rats administered treatment diets were higher than CON (13.63 U/mL, 0.95 umol·min). Rats administered COM (20.65 U/mL) had highest SOD activity. CAT activity was 51.27% higher in rats administered HIB 2% (1.96 umol·min −l ·ml −1 ). GPX activity ranged from 7.26 (STW 1% + CIN 2.5%) to 9.59 (STW 2%) umol·min −l ·ml −1. Results suggest that herbal teas and spices may reduce the risk of colon cancer and improve antioxidant status; regular consumption How to cite this paper: