Comparison of Rutin Content, Anti-Cancer Activity, and Anti-Obesity Effect of Four Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) Cultivars

This study aimed to compare rutin content, anti-cancer activity against Calu-6 lung, HCT-116 colorectal, and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines and anti-obesity activity of Jersey Giant, Jersey Supreme, NJ953, and UC157 asparagus cultivars. The rutin content in the spears of the four cultivars gradually decreased from the tip to the basal segments. In the spear tip segments, the rutin content of the Jersey Giant and UC157 cultivars was higher than that in the Jersey Supreme and NJ953 cultivars; whereas the rutin content in the basal segments of Jersey Supreme and UC157 spears was higher than that of Jersey Giant and NJ953 cultivars. The rutin content in the whole spear of the UC157 cultivar was significantly higher than that in Jersey Giant and NJ953 spears. Asparagus spears exhibited anti-cancer activity against HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells more effectively than Calu-6 lung and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, as demonstrated by the lower viability of HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells compared to the viability of the other cancer cell lines. The Jersey Giant cultivar showed higher anti-cancer activity against Calu-6 lung cancer cell line at spear extract concentrations of 400 and 800 µg·mL-1. The UC157 cultivar showed higher anti-cancer activity against HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells at spear extract concentrations from 100 to 800 µg·mL-1 compared to Jersey Giant and Jersey Supreme cultivars. The rutin content was negatively correlated with the viability of HCT-116 colorectal and MCF-7 breast cancer cells, indicating that the high rutin content of the UC157 cultivar is linked to high anti-cancer activity against HCT-116 colorectal and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The spear extracts from the four asparagus cultivars significantly decreased lipid accumulation. There were no significant differences in the effects to 3T3-L1 preadipocyte viability and lipid accumulation among the four cultivars. These results suggest the potential of the UC157 cultivar with its high rutin content and anti-cancer activity against HCT-116 colorectal cancer cells, also suggest that the consumption of asparagus may contribute to the alleviation of obesity.