Raviscanina wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.): A nutritionally valuable crop with antioxidant and antiproliferative properties

The antiproliferative effects towards human HepG2, A549, HeLa, and SK-N-BE(2) cell lines were evaluated. High performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) was used to identify and quantify the main metabolites in the two investigated extracts. In particular, the alcoholic extract, rich in rutin and isoquercetrin, exhibited marked radical scavenging and antioxidant activities. The presence of ursolic acid and its isomer oleanolic acid as constituents of CHCl3 extract could explain its inhibitory effect detected on the proliferation of HeLa and, HepG2 tested cell lines.