Potential use of antioxidative mungbean protein hydrolysate as an anticancer asiatic acid carrier

This study investigated the potential use of mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) protein hydrolysate (MPH) prepared from tryptic hydrolysis as an antioxidative hydrolysate and as a carrier for anticancer asiatic acid (AA). The antioxidant capacity of MPH was 0.67 and 0.46 μmol Trolox equivalent (TE)/mg protein, as measured by oxygen radical absorbance capacity-fluorescein (ORACFL) and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assays, respectively. Freeze-drying in lactose excipient reduced the antioxidant capacity of MPH to 0.48 μmol TE/mg protein in ORACFL assay (P < 0.05) but did not alter antioxidant capacity determined by TEAC assay (P ≥ 0.05). The genotoxicity of H2O2 (50 μM, 30 min) on hepatoblastoma HepG2 could be alleviated after HepG2 cells had taken up MPH after H2O2 exposure (P < 0.05). Moreover, the inhibition concentration (IC50) of AA in HepG2 was lowered from 58.5 μg mL− 1 of AA alone to 38.5 μg mL− 1 when AA was freeze-dried with MPH in lactose excipient (P < 0.05). This study suggested that the efficacy of anticancer pentacyclic triterpene AA against hepatoblastoma HepG2 could be increased by co-drying with antioxidative mungbean protein hydrolysate in lactose excipient.