IN VITRO AND IN VIVO ANTICARCINOGENESIS OF SUGAR CANE VINEGAR

This study describes the in vitro and in vivo anticarcinogenic effects of sugar cane vinegar. Sugar cane vinegar components more effectively depressed the reverse mutation in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 induced by the mutagens, Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2, QI and DEGB. Antimutagenic components were estimated to be phenolics. Components of sugar cane vinegar were separated into non-adsorbed and adsorbed fractions by Amberlite XAD2 column chromatography. The adsorbed fraction effectively depressed the proliferation of a promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60) by the induction of apoptosis. Further stepwise fractionation of the adsorbed fraction by 40, 60, 80 and 100% ethanol indicated that the inhibitory activity was greatest in the 100%-ethanol fraction. Fractionation of this fraction by the Folch method revealed that the responsible component was estimated to be a simple lipid. Administration of the whole adsorbed fraction as 5% of a mouse diet significantly stimulated the activity of natural killer (NK) cells and showed a tendency to depress the proliferation of tumor cells. These results indicate that sugar cane vinegar may provide protection against carcinogenesis by several steps, such as antimutagenicity, depression of cancer-cell proliferation with apoptosis induction, and stimulation of NK cell activity. Therefore, sugar cane vinegar may be an excellent acid seasoning with higher levels of physiological function.