Unveiling The Antioxidant and Anticancer Potential of Local Mediterranean Olive and Fig Extracts Against Breast Cancer

Unveiling The Antioxidant and Anticancer Potential of Local Mediterranean Olive and Fig Extracts Against Breast Cancer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Unveiling The Antioxidant and Anticancer Potential of Local Mediterranean Olive and Fig Extracts Against Breast Cancer Sara El Srouji, Walid El Kayal, Diana Ismail, Lara Nasreddine, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7649700/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Given the growing interest in dietary interventions for cancer prevention and treatment, this study investigated the antioxidant and anticancer potential of nutraceuticals derived from key components of the mediterranean diet (MD) against breast cancer. Extracts from three Lebanese Ficus carica (FC) varieties Shatawi (Sh), Baqarati (Bq), Asali (As), and two local Olea europea (OE) varieties Green olive (GO) and Black olive (BO) were selected for evaluation based on their traditional dietary relevance and potential bioactivity. Methanolic extracts of these components were analyzed for their total polyphenolic content (TPC), anthocyanin content (TAC), and antioxidant activity. The anticancer effects of the single and combined agents were evaluated on 2 breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and non-tumorigenic intestinal epithelial cell line (FHs-74) using MTT assay and flow cytometry. Our findings showed that OE extracts, particularly from BO, exhibited significantly higher TPC and three-times greater TAC than FC extracts. Compared to all FC extracts, BO extract demonstrated strong anticancer effects at 100-fold lower concentrations, especially against MCF-7 cells. Importantly, BO did not affect the viability of normal FHs-74 cells at doses up to 1.2 mg/mL. Interestingly, combination of FC and OE extracts particularly darker- colored varieties with higher TPC (Sh and BO) resulted in an enhanced reduction of both breast cancer cell line viability compared to single treatment. In parallel, this dual treatment induced a greater increase in sub-G1 populations in MCF-7 cancer cells compared to BO alone. In conclusion, these findings highlight the therapeutic potential of Mediterranean fruit extracts, particularly BO and Sh, positioning them as promising candidates to support breast cancer treatment strategies. Mediterranean diet Breast Cancer Polyphenols Ficus carica Olea europea Cell viability Synergism Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files AdditionalFile1.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 03 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 25 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 18 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7649700","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":517094834,"identity":"edca38c6-9e41-4220-9a8e-5e21edb396b9","order_by":0,"name":"Sara El Srouji","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"American University of Beirut","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sara","middleName":"El","lastName":"Srouji","suffix":""},{"id":517094835,"identity":"0549e94f-6c57-4059-ad58-e128c37cdb62","order_by":1,"name":"Walid El Kayal","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"American University of 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Cancer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-complementary-medicine-and-therapies","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bcam","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies](https://bmccomplementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Mediterranean diet, Breast Cancer, Polyphenols, Ficus carica, Olea europea, Cell viability, Synergism","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7649700/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7649700/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eGiven the growing interest in dietary interventions for cancer prevention and treatment, this study investigated the antioxidant and anticancer potential of nutraceuticals derived from key components of the mediterranean diet (MD) against breast cancer. Extracts from three Lebanese \u003cem\u003eFicus carica (FC)\u003c/em\u003e varieties Shatawi (Sh), Baqarati (Bq), Asali (As), and two local \u003cem\u003eOlea europea (OE)\u003c/em\u003e varieties Green olive (GO) and Black olive (BO) were selected for evaluation based on their traditional dietary relevance and potential bioactivity. Methanolic extracts of these components were analyzed for their total polyphenolic content (TPC), anthocyanin content (TAC), and antioxidant activity. The anticancer effects of the single and combined agents were evaluated on 2 breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and non-tumorigenic intestinal epithelial cell line (FHs-74) using MTT assay and flow cytometry. Our findings showed that \u003cem\u003eOE\u003c/em\u003e extracts, particularly from BO, exhibited significantly higher TPC and three-times greater TAC than \u003cem\u003eFC\u003c/em\u003e extracts. Compared to all \u003cem\u003eFC\u003c/em\u003e extracts, BO extract demonstrated strong anticancer effects at 100-fold lower concentrations, especially against MCF-7 cells. Importantly, BO did not affect the viability of normal FHs-74 cells at doses up to 1.2 mg/mL. Interestingly, combination of \u003cem\u003eFC\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eOE\u003c/em\u003e extracts particularly darker- colored varieties with higher TPC (Sh and BO) resulted in an enhanced reduction of both breast cancer cell line viability compared to single treatment. In parallel, this dual treatment induced a greater increase in sub-G1 populations in MCF-7 cancer cells compared to BO alone. In conclusion, these findings highlight the therapeutic potential of Mediterranean fruit extracts, particularly BO and Sh, positioning them as promising candidates to support breast cancer treatment strategies.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Unveiling The Antioxidant and Anticancer Potential of Local Mediterranean Olive and Fig Extracts Against Breast Cancer","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-23 22:49:52","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7649700/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-03T09:52:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T12:13:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-25T12:13:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","date":"2025-09-18T12:24:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-complementary-medicine-and-therapies","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"bcam","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies](https://bmccomplementmedtherapies.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"60c8e869-e21f-45fd-b1fd-0123ec2d4fa3","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 23rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-09T22:38:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-23 22:49:52","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7649700","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7649700","identity":"rs-7649700","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}