Antiproliferative effects of cherry juice and wine in Chinese hamster lung fibroblast cells and their phenolic constituents and antioxidant activities

Cherries are good sources of bioactive phenolic compounds that are widely considered to be potentially healthy. Here we investigated the protective activities of juice and wine products of tart and sweet cherries and their constituent anthocyanins (e.g., cyanidin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3-rutinoside) against oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79-4). Total phenolics in the cherry juices and wines were 56.7–86.8 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/l and 79.4–149 mg GAE/l, respectively. Total anthocyanins in the cherry juices and wines were 7.9–50.1 mg of cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalents (CGE)/l and 29.6–63.4 mg CGE/l, respectively. Both cherry juices and wines exerted protective effects against oxidative stress induced by H₂O₂ on V79-4 cells and also enhanced the activities of antioxidative enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase and catalase, in a dose-dependent manner. The protection of V79-4 cells from oxidative stress by phenolics was mainly attributable to anthocyanins. The positive correlation between the protective effects against oxidative stress in V79-4 cells and the antioxidant enzyme activities was stronger for cyanidin 3-glucoside than for cyanidin 3-rutinoside.