Assessment of polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity, protection against ROS-induced DNA damage and anticancer activity of Vitis vinifera stem extracts

Grape extracts and wine have been studied widely due to their beneficial effects on human health. However, there are only few studies from grape stems extracts. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was the assessment in stem extracts from Greek Vitis vinifera varieties of the total polyphenolic content (TPC), the identification of the polyphenols present in them, and the evaluation of their antioxidant activity, protection against ROS-induced DNA damage and inhibition of liver (HepG2) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cell growth. The range of the TPC in grape stem extracts was from 345 to 584 mg GAE/g dry weight. Moreover, stem extracts contained different classes of polyphenols as flavonols, flavanols, procyanidins, phenolic acids and stilbenes. In DPPH and ABTS assays, the IC50 values of the stem extracts had an average of 7.8 ± 2.8 and 5.4 ± 2.6 μg/mL respectively. Also, all stem extracts inhibited OH- and ROO-induced DNA damage dose dependent with average IC50 values of 478 ± 217 and 1.15 ± 0.85 μg/mL respectively. Furthermore, stem extracts inhibited at low concentrations the growth of HepG2 and HeLa cancer cells with average IC50 values of 50 ± 12 and 32 ± 16 μg/mL respectively. The above activities of grape stem extracts were comparable to those of seed extracts.