Evaluation of bioactivities and importance of indole-3-carbinol in the Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata f. alba extracts

Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata f. alba (Brassicaceae) is a nutrient rich leafy-headed cruciferous vegetable. The bioactivities of the various extracts such as aqueous, hexane, chloroform and methanol of this Indian cultivated vegetable have been investigated. The anticancer activity was tested in the specific cell lines (MCF-7, HCT116 and 3T3L1). The methanol and aqueous extracts showed the highest cytotoxicity found in the MCF7 cell line. The chloroform extract showed antibacterial activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli, but not against Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. The aqueous extract of the sample gives maximum antioxidant activity. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of these extracts were carried out and confirmed the presence of indole-3-carbinol in the methanol extract. The significant differentially expressed genes that involved in the treatment of indole-3-carbinol on MCF7 cell line have been identified from the GEO dataset analysis. This study strongly proves the correlation between the anticancer, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of the sample and the presence of the specific chemical compound indole-3-carbinol and its metabolic involvement in the human diet and digestive system.