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. 2021 Jul 7:11:697143.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2021.697143. eCollection 2021.

Cancer Preventive and Therapeutic Potential of Banana and Its Bioactive Constituents: A Systematic, Comprehensive, and Mechanistic Review

Arijit Mondal  1 , Sabyasachi Banerjee  2 , Sankhadip Bose  3 , Partha Pratim Das  3 , Elise N Sandberg  4 , Atanas G Atanasov  5   6   7 , Anupam Bishayee  4
Affiliations

Cancer Preventive and Therapeutic Potential of Banana and Its Bioactive Constituents: A Systematic, Comprehensive, and Mechanistic Review

Arijit Mondal et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

Background: The banana (Musa spp.) plant produces elongated and edible fruit. The two main parthenocarpic species of banana are Musa accuminata Colla and Musa balbisiana Colla. There are several health-promoting and disease-preventing effects of Musa accuminata Colla, which are attributed to its important bioactive compounds, including phenolics, carotenoids, biogenic amines, phytosterols, and volatile oils, found in the stem, fruit, pseudostem, leaf, flower, sap, inner trunk, root, and inner core. Banana possesses numerous pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, antiulcerogenic, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, leishmanicidal, anthelmintic, and anticancer properties. Various individual studies have reported anticancer effects of different components of the banana plant. However, according to our understanding, an up-to-date, systematic, and critical analysis of existing scientific results has not yet been carried out.

Objectives: This review aims to include a thorough assessment of banana and its phytochemicals for cancer prevention and therapy with a focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms of action.

Methods: The available research studies on anticancer activities of banana extracts, fractions and pure compounds were collected using various scholarly databases, such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus, based on predetermined selection criteria.

Results: Various banana extracts, fractions, and phytoconstituents, including ferulic acid, protocatechualdehyde, 2-pentanone, 4-epicyclomusalenone, cycloeucalenol acetate, and chlorogenic acid, have been shown to exhibit cancer preventative and anticancer activities in breast, cervical, colorectal, esophageal, hepatic, oral, prostate, and skin cancers. Bioactive components present in bananas have exhibited antiproliferative, cell cycle arrest-inducing, apoptotic, anti-adhesive, anti-invasive, and antiangiogenic effects through modulation of diverse, dysregulated oncogenic signaling pathways.

Conclusion: Based on the critical analysis of available literature, banana products and phytoconstituents show enormous potential for future development of drugs for cancer prevention and therapy. However, more mechanistic studies and well-designed clinical trials should be performed to establish its efficacy.

Keywords: Musa accuminata Colla; Musa balbisiana Colla; Musa spp.; banana; cancer; molecular mechanisms; prevention; therapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Various photographs of banana showing a whole plant (A), pseudostem (B), flowers (C), fruits (D) and leaves (E).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Isolated phytoconstituents (1–24) present in Musa spp.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Isolated phytoconstituents (25–45) present in Musa spp.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Isolated phytoconstituents (46–68) present in Musa spp.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Isolated phytoconstituents (69-73) present in Musa spp.
Figure 6
Figure 6
PRISMA flow chart describing the process of literature search and study selection related to banana in cancer research.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Schematic illustration of anticancer effects of banana extracts and its phytoconstituents through cell cycle arrest. Multiple studies found cell cycle arrest effects of banana extracts and its phytoconstituents at various check points which lead to the proliferation inhibition.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Representation of apoptotic effects of banana extracts and its bioactive phytoconstituents. Under the apoptotic effects, banana extracts and its bioactive phytoconstituent can induce the expression of Bax, caspase-3, caspase-9, cleaved PARP and block the expression of Bcl-2. It also regulates the MAPK/ERK1/2 signaling pathway, PI3K-Aktsignaling pathway, in which the expressional levels of p-ERK1/2, ATF3, and ATF3 are modulated.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Overview of consumption banana fruits, extracts and its phytoconstituents exhibiting cancer preventive and anticancer activity against various cancer types through modulation of diverse cell signaling pathways.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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