Antiproliferation of Carcinoma Cell Lines in Vitro by Amenity Grass Extracts and Metabolomic Analysis.

The Poaceae family imposes a veritable monopoly on the staple food sources for the global community, yet a critical lack in knowledge exists as to the functional health properties that amenity grasses may possess.  Characterization results demonstrated potential antiproliferative properties linked to the presence of favorable phenolic compositions in two amenity grass species.  This study tested phenolic extracts from supina bluegrass [Poa supina Schrad. 'Supranova'] and bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. var. dactylon 'Sovereign'] for deleterious impacts on the progression of human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cells HepG2.  Treated cells were monitored for reference antiproliferation indicators and compared with their Fourier Transform mid infrared (FT-mIR) fingerprint.  Reference indicators included cell viability, cell protein content and cell membrane integrity.  The FT-mIR metabolomic method was used to assess temporal changes in the biochemical fingerprint of the cell and coupled with the traditional reference indicator tests.  As an outcome to this study, the antiproliferative validity of underutilized and neglected grasses will be assessed for potential in dietary, pharmaceutical or Extractable Nutraceutical Yield (ENY) applications.