Pectin: A Bioactive Food Polysaccharide with Cancer Preventive Potential
Talha Bin Emran,
Fahadul Islam,
Saikat Mitra,
Shyamjit Paul,
Nikhil Nath,
Zidan Khan,
Rajib Das,
Deepak Chandran,
Rohit Sharma,
Clara Mariana Gonçalves Lima,
Ahmed Abdullah Al Awadh,
Ibrahim Abdullah Almazni,
Abdulaziz Hassan Alhasaniah,
Raquel P. F. Guiné
Affiliations
Talha Bin Emran
Department of Pharmacy, BGC Trust University Bangladesh, Chittagong 4381, Bangladesh
Fahadul Islam
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Daffodil International University, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh
Saikat Mitra
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Shyamjit Paul
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Nikhil Nath
Department of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chittagong 4318, Bangladesh
Zidan Khan
Department of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chittagong 4318, Bangladesh
Rajib Das
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh
Deepak Chandran
Department of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Amrita School of Agricultural Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University, Coimbatore 642109, Tamil Nadu, India
Rohit Sharma
Department of Rasa Shastra and Bhaishajya Kalpana, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India
Clara Mariana Gonçalves Lima
Department of Food Science, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras 37200-900, Brazil
Ahmed Abdullah Al Awadh
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Najran University, P.O. Box 1988, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia
Ibrahim Abdullah Almazni
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Najran University, P.O. Box 1988, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz Hassan Alhasaniah
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Najran University, P.O. Box 1988, Najran 61441, Saudi Arabia
Raquel P. F. Guiné
CERNAS Research Centre, Department of Food Industry, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
Pectin is an acidic heteropolysaccharide found in the cell walls and the primary and middle lamella of land plants. To be authorized as a food additive, industrial pectins must meet strict guidelines set forth by the Food and Agricultural Organization and must contain at least 65% polygalacturonic acid to achieve the E440 level. Fruit pectin derived from oranges or apples is commonly used in the food industry to gel or thicken foods and to stabilize acid-based milk beverages. It is a naturally occurring component and can be ingested by dietary consumption of fruit and vegetables. Preventing long-term chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease is an important role of dietary carbohydrates. Colon and breast cancer are among the diseases for which data suggest that modified pectin (MP), specifically modified citrus pectin (MCP), has beneficial effects on the development and spread of malignancies, in addition to its benefits as a soluble dietary fiber. Cellular and animal studies and human clinical trials have provided corroborating data. Although pectin has many diverse functional qualities, this review focuses on various modifications used to develop MP and its benefits for cancer prevention, bioavailability, clinical trials, and toxicity studies. This review concludes that pectin has anti-cancer characteristics that have been found to inhibit tumor development and proliferation in a wide variety of cancer cells. Nevertheless, further clinical and basic research is required to confirm the chemopreventive or therapeutic role of specific dietary carbohydrate molecules.
