Steroidal Alkaloids from Food Waste of Tomato Processing Inhibit Neuroblastoma Cell Viability

Nowadays, there is considerable attention toward the use of food waste from food processingas possible sources of compounds with health properties, such as anticancer activity. An exampleis tomato processing, which is responsible for generating a remarkable amount of waste (leaves, peel,seeds). Therefore, our goal was to evaluate the potential anticancer property of tomato extracts, inparticular "Datterino" tomato (DT) and "Piccadilly" tomato (PT), and to study their phytochemicalcomposition. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS) results showedthat these extracts are rich in alkaloids, flavonoids, fatty acids, lipids, and terpenes. Furthermore,their potential anticancer activity was evaluated in vitro by MTT assay. In particular, the percentageof cell viability was assessed in olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs), a particular glial cell type of theolfactory system, and in SH-SY5Y, a neuroblastoma cell line. All extracts (aqueous and ethanolic) didnot lead to any significant change in the percentage of cell viability on OECs when compared withthe control. Instead, in SH-SY5Y we observed a significant decrease in the percentage of cell viability,confirming their potential anticancer activity; this was more evident for the ethanolic extracts. Inconclusion, tomato leaves extracts could be regarded as a valuable source of bioactive compounds,suitable for various applications in the food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical fields.