# _Beta vulgaris_ subsp. _maritima_: A Valuable Food with High Added Health Benefits
## 3 Results and Discussion
### In Vitro Antitumor Activity of B. vulgaris subsp. martiima Leaves against Breast Cancer  
Methanolic extract of _B. vulgaris_ subsp. martiima_ leaves was assessed in our study for its effects against two human breast cancers: the triple negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-468) and the ER-positive (MCF-7) (Figure 3).  
In our work, we treated both tumor cells lines with various concentrations of the methanolic extract of _B. vulgaris_ (0.78, 1.56, 3.12, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL) for 48 h. The results showed a dose-dependent, significant cytotoxic effect against both breast cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the _B. vulgaris_ methanolic extract had moderate potency against both MCF-7 (82.28 percent for 100 g/mL) and MDA-MB-468 (87.86 percent for 100 g/mL) mammalian cell lines. Indeed, the IC50 values for MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 were found to be 11.57 5.09 and 42.50 7.27 g/mL, respectively (Table 5).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**IC50 (mg/mL)**} \\ \cline{2-3}  & \(\alpha\)**-Amylase** & \(\alpha\)**-Glucosidase** \\ \hline _Beta vulgaris_ subsp. _martiima_ leaves & - & 1.792 \(\pm\) 0.005 a \\ Acarbose & 0.046 \(\pm\) 0.001 b  \\ \hline Values are the mean of three replicates \(\pm\) standard deviation. Different letters (a \& b) within each column indicate statistically significant differences at \(p\) \(<\) 0.05.[ENDFOOTNOTE] \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 4: Inhibition results of _Beta vulgaris_ subsp. _martiima_ extract on both \(\alpha\)-amylase and \(\alpha\)-glucosidase enzymes.  
Figure 2: Percentage of \(\alpha\)-amylase inhibition (**A**) and \(\alpha\)-glucosidase inhibition (**B**) versus different concentrations of _B. vulgaris_ subsp. _martiima leaves_’ extract. Each value represents the mean of three replicates. Bars represent the standard error. Different letters indicate significant differences among treatments at \(p\) \(<\) 0.05.  
Our findings are in the same line with those obtained by [PERSON] et al. [48], who found that the other _Beta vulgaris_ genus such as _Beta vulgaris_ var. _cicla_ had multiple compounds with chemopreventive and moderate cytotoxic effects against human colon cancer (RKO) cell line.  
To our knowledge, there are no studies yet that have demonstrated the qualification of the species _B. vulgaris_ subsp. _maritima_ extracts as an anticancer agent towards human breast cancer, in particular on TNBC and ER-positive. The results obtained in this work were found to be consistent with those obtained by some compounds extracted from essential oil of _B. maritima_ against the HeLa and A549 cells lines. Accordingly, the in vitro antitumor activity of both extracts may be attributed to their specific components, such as hesperidin and thymoquinone, which were reported to have an antitumor effect towards MCF-7 [49] and MDA-MB-231 [50].  
In addition, _B. vulgaris_ subsp. _maritima_ ethanolic extract has proven markedly effective as an anti-genotoxic [51], which make it a source of natural bioactive molecules that can be used as a safe food source and as a chemoprevine.  
Similarly, the cytotoxic effect on human normal cells was considered in this study. The cytotoxicity of _B. vulgaris_ subsp. _maritima_ leaf extracts on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was also assessed (Figure 4).  
The methanolic extract of _B. vulgaris_ subsp. _maritima_ leaves was found to have no cytotoxic effect against normal cells (PBMCs) (IC\({}_{50}\) > 50 \(\mathrm{\SIUnitSymbolMicro mL}\)). Therefore, our extract is considered to have a highly selective killing ability against TNBC and ER-positive breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-468 and MCF7). As a result, the percentage of lysis obtained for the MDA-MB-468 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines demonstrated promising chemopreventive properties for possible synergic drug development.