Nutritional prospects of wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum) and its effects in treatment and chemoprevention

Abstract

Nutraceuticals are organic and traditional foods consumed nowadays to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get rid of lifestyle diseases like obesity, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, etc. Globally, herbal products have become increasingly popular in recent years. Wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum) is a nutraceutical proven to be a dietary supplement and beneficial for cancer-suffering patients. Wheatgrass possesses many beneficial antioxidant properties: anti-cancer activity, anti-bacterial activity, anti-fungal activity, and anti-microbial activity. Due to the presence of resistant starch, lignans, phenolic acids, alkylresorcinols, and numerous antioxidant components, including carotenoids and tocopherols, this herbal plant is deserving attention as a source of dietary fiber. Patients consume wheatgrass during cancer treatment as an adjunct to reduce toxicity associated with drugs and chemotherapy and ultimately improve long-term outcomes. Studies have proved that wheatgrass helps treat pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, and breast cancer. So, the multi-targeted herbal drug—wheatgrass—is used as an adjunct therapy alongside conventional medicine to treat cancer and other diseases. A promising therapeutic nutraceutical for avoiding lifestyle disorders is wheatgrass.

Keywords

• triticum aestivum
• wheatgrass
• nutraceutical
• anti-cancer
• breast cancer
• antioxidant
• lifestyle disease