People still underestimate the nutritional advantages of sorghum. It is well-known that sorghum is a gluten-free food and suitable for people with celiac disease. Some specialty sorghums have recently gained particular interest because of their high level of phenolics and potential health benefits, especially in cancer prevention. Previous investigation has shown that an average of 35% of overall human cancer mortality is related to diet. Sorghum can be a part of a plant-based healthy diet as certain accessions of sorghum contain many more bioactive phenolics than other crops, such as wheat, barley, rice, maize, rye, and oats. Numerous studies have reported the cancer-preventive effects of phenolic compounds in fruits and vegetables, although few focused on specialty sorghum whole grain.

The authors stated that: Taken together, these results of their research indicated, for the first time, that inhibition of either HepG2 or Caco-2 cell growth by phenolic extracts from 13 selected sorghum accessions was due to cytostatic and apoptotic but not cytotoxic mechanisms, suggesting some specialty sorghums are a valuable, functional food, providing sustainable phenolics for potential cancer prevention.
In conclusion, the present study showed that phenolic extracts in various sorghum accessions effectively inhibited HepG2 or Caco-2 cancer cell growth in a dose- and time dependent manner. The cell growth inhibition by the sorghum phenolic extracts was significantly associated with their phenolic content. Furthermore, the inhibition appeared to be mediated by cytostatic and apoptotic mechanisms rather than cytotoxicity. Taken together, this study is the first to investigate and compare the anti-cancer effect of sorghum phenolic compounds in both HepG2 and Caco-2 cell lines. The results suggest that sorghum is a valuable food and crop with health benefits to provide sustainable phenolics for potential cancer prevention.
Citation: Sorghum Phenolic Compounds Are Associated with Cell Growth Inhibition through Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Hepatocarcinoma and Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells. Foods 2021, 10, 993.

Sorghum Phenolic Compounds Are Associated with Cell Growth Inhibition through Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis in Human Hepatocarcinoma and Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells