Nutritional characteristics and cytotoxic effect of polysaccharides extracted from the digüeñes cyttaria berteroi and cyttaria hariotii present in chile

Abstract

The Cyttaria genus belongs to the Cyttariaceae family, with 11 species described worldwide. In Chile and Argentina, seven of them are found. They are known as “Digüeñes”, from the Mapudungun “diweñ”, and are parasitic fungi of Nothofagus trees. They are naturally distributed in the southern hemisphere and are of great importance from a nutritional point of view. Despite extensive knowledge about the taxonomy, ecology, and chemical-nutritional composition of some Cyttaria species, their nutraceutical potential has recently gained interest. In this investigation, the chemical-proximal composition and cytotoxic activity of the C. berteroi and C. hariotii polysaccharides were determined. To identify the nutritional composition of the Cyttaria species, the AOAC methodology was used and the cytotoxic potential of their polysaccharides was evaluated by means of the MTT test (3- (4,5-dimethylthiazol- 2-yl) -2,5 bromide-diphenyltetrazolium) against the cell lines of human colon cancer (HCT-116), human leukemia (U-937) and breast cancer (MCF-7). The results showed that C. berteroi had a high protein and lipid content compared to C. hariotii. Also, C. hariotii polysaccharides had a greater cytotoxic effect against the colon cancer cell line (IC50= 3700 μg/mL), leukemia (IC50= 2100 μg/mL) and breast cancer (IC50= 9470 μg/mL). Therefore, it is concluded that C. berteroi metabolites and cytotoxic activity in C. hariotii polysaccharide tumor lines could represent an opportunity to obtain a potential nutraceutical product.