Glucosinolates fortification of cruciferous sprouts by sulphur supplementation during cultivation to enhance anti-cancer activity

The cruciferous sprouts, including cabbage (Brassica oleracea), broccoli (Brassica capitata) and radish (Raphanus sativus), were cultivated with supplementation of sulphur salts. With supplementation of sulphur at 60 kg/ha, a 2–5-fold increases in total glucosinolates contents in the sprouts were observed. The individual glucosinolates whose concentration increased most significantly, included progoitrin, glucoerucin, glucobrassicin, glucohirsutin and 4-methoxybrassicin. The antioxidant properties of these sulphur supplemented sprouts were also higher than that of the normal sprouts due to the increases of phenolic compounds. Consequently, the glucosinolates fortified sprouts had higher anti-proliferative activity against HepG2 human hepatocarcinoma cells than the normal sprouts, as the cell viability decreased by 22–35%. Also in CT26 mouse colorectal cancer cells, the cell viability decrease by 34–59%.