Extraction of quercetin from onion peels as a dietary supplement for breast cancer prevention

Types of food materials: Onion peels, red onion peels, and shallot peels
Product obtained from research: Dietary supplements for breast cancer prevention

Onion peels are waste from agriculture and restaurants. To eliminate them, some farmers burn them causing PM2.5 and some restaurants throw them away with other types of garbage. This research utilized onion peels to develop a value-added product as a dietary supplement to fight breast cancer, a major problem for women. The study investigated the effect of quercetin extracts from onion (Allium cepa L.), red onion (Allium cepa), and shallot (Allium cepa Aggregatum group.) on inhibiting the growth, movement, and metastasis of breast cancer cells. The study also investigated the effect of quercetin extracts from onion, red onion, and shallot on increasing the effectiveness of doxorubicin chemotherapy in breast cancer.

The study began with developing the quercetin extraction process from onion, red onion, and shallot (in the form of pulp and peel in water and ethanol solvents at various concentrations). The impacts of temperature and pH were studied to find the optimum conditions for quercetin extraction. Then, the stability of the quercetin extract at different temperatures was studied. The efficacy of the quercetin extract in killing breast cancer cells was studied and the mechanism of cancer cell death was investigated. The results showed that quercetin was abundantly found in the peels of onion, red onion, and shallot. When studying the efficacy of quercetin extracts to inhibit breast cancer cells, it was found that the quercetin extract from shallot peels was the most effective in killing MCF-7 breast cancer cells, followed by the quercetin extract from onion peels and the quercetin extract from red onion peels, respectively. In addition, shallots and onions also could kill MDA-MB-231 breast cells, which were more effective than red onions. The research also found that quercetin extract from onion peels, red onion peels, and shallot peels, can kill cancer cells through the apoptosis induction in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. However, this study has a limitation because it did not investigate the effect of quercetin extracts on inhibiting cancer recurrence.

Onion (Allium cepa L.),

Shallot (Allium cepa Aggregatum group.)

Red onion (Allium cepa)

Project “The production of coffee flour from coffee pulp waste as healthy food ingredients”
Supported by the National Research Council of Thailand (Fiscal year 2022)

Researcher

Asst. Prof. Dr. Supaporn Passorn and team
Biotechnology, School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Phayao
19 Phahonyothin Road, Mae Ka, Mueang, Phayao 56000