Commercial lentils (Lens culinaris) provide antioxidative and broad-spectrum anti-cancerous effects

Background: Interest is growing surrounding functional foods, which provide health benefits in addition to nutritional value. In particular, there is a focus on pulse crops which contain high levels of polyphenolics, such as lentils. Methods: In this study, polyphenols were extracted from five L. culinaris varieties and characterized by both their antioxidant profile and cytotoxic activity. Result: Hulled varieties had a high content of secondary metabolites (>70 mg GAE/g), while all varieties demonstrated high antioxidant potential (1570-2020 Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity index). Furthermore, all extracts showed significant cytotoxicity against H9C2, HepG2, A549 and Calu-1 cancer cell lines. This recommends further investigation into the specific compounds present in L. culinaris, which could potentially be exploited for their anti-cancer activity.