Thi-Cam-Thi TRAN, Trung-Quan NGUYEN, Thanh-Chi HOANG, Ngoc-Tram VO, Minh-Thang BUI, Nhat-Quynh-Nhu NGUYEN, My-Trung PHUNG, Quang-Cuong TRUONG, Thi-Kim-Ly BUI
Food and Health - 2026;12(4):414-426
Tea is prevalent in Asian culture with multiple uses, including health care and medical applications. Polyspora huongiana is a Vietnamese endemic tea first described in the 2010s. Due to its local distribution, scientists are challenged in approaching this tea; the academic evidence of the anti-cancer properties of this Polyspora has been limited. By using cytotoxic evaluation assays, such as the MTT assay and Trypan blue exclusion test, the anti-cancer capacity of the P. huongiana leaf extract was reported on leukemic, breast cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma cells. The results showed a high amount of phenolic compounds (104.155 +/- 11.32 mgGAE/g), including flavonoids (91.473 +/- 17.52 mgQE/g), catechin (0.74 mg/g), and catechin derivatives (Epigallocatechin gallate with 1.06 mg/g and Epicatechin with 48.97 mg/g). P. huongiana expressed lethality in K562 (IC50 = 126.20 +/- 15.92 µg/mL), MCF7 (IC50 = 184.48 +/- 13.10 µg/mL), and HCC-J5 (IC50 = 151.03 +/- 18.60 µg/mL). Besides, the extract also induced cell cycle dysregulation and transcriptomic modification in the treated cells. However, due to a suboptimal selectivity index, further research is required to enhance targeting efficiency.
