## 3 Purple Carrot and Prevention of MetS and Cancers
### Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Cancer Potential of Purple Carrot  
Compounds with antioxidant activity could play important roles in the prevention of many health problems, such as carcinogenesis, aging, metabolic events, immune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Some studies have suggested that purple carrot bioactive compounds possess anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer potential. [PERSON] et al. [76] conducted a study to investigate the biological activity and antioxidant potential of purified anthocyanin from different anthocyanin-rich plants. The findings showed that biological and antioxidant activity was seen in all tested purified anthocyanin samples differing in anthocyanin content (from 4.9 to 38.5 mg/g DW). Different anthocyanins exerted radical scavenging activity of various magnitudes, and this was higher in samples containing non-acylated anthocyanins. Accordingly, purified anthocyanins decreased endothelial inflammatory antigen expression, indicating a possible beneficial impact in cardiovascular protection. That effect was also dependent on structural differences in anthocyanins; non-acylated forms were more effective than anthocyanins acylated with cinnamic acid derivatives. Some nutrients present in purple carrots could be considered as anticancer agents, for instance, carotenoids, which could be easily provided by consumption of purple carrots. High concentrations of carotenoids are inversely proportional to oxidative stress in the human body. [PERSON] et al. [77] have highlighted in their work that intake of purple carrot juice is an easy and efficient way of enhancing the total carotenoid content in blood plasma. These authors conducted a randomized intervention study among breast cancer survivors with obesity (the BMI of participants ranged from 25 to 45). For 3 weeks, participants consumed about 240 mL of purple carrot juice (which corresponded to about 5 carrot roots). This intervention led to a statistically significant increase in carotenoid content in blood plasma. At the same time, the content of 8-iso-PGF\(\alpha\), which is an indicator of oxidative stress in the human body, was decreased. High carotenoid contents and low 8-iso-PGF\(\alpha\) levels in blood plasma may lead to a reduced risk of cancer recurrence. Anthocyanins from purple carrot could also possess anticancer, antioxidant and chemo-protective properties. [PERSON] et al. 's [78] research showed that the aqueous extract of purple carrot anthocyanins effectively reduced human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell (HT-29) line growth. Non-acylated anthocyanins were more effective than acylated ones; the suppressive effects of purple carrot anthocyanins were stronger than those of radish or elderberry. A study conducted by [PERSON] [54] considered the cytotoxic activity of purple carrot calli extract against different cancer cells in humans. The lowest IC50 values against MCF-7, SK-BR-3, and neuro-2A cell lines were obtained. However, low cytotoxicity in the normal cell line VERO was achieved, suggesting that purple carrot phenolics are a superior option which do not cause negative effects in normal healthy cells. Purple carrot polyphenols effectively downregulated the secretion of certain proinflammatory markers, namely, interleukin-8 (IL-8), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), under normal and TNF-\(\alpha\)-induced inflammatory conditions. Better functionality was achieved after extract digestion compared to undigested extract. After digestion, the phenolic profile of purple carrot was similar to undigested carrot, but digestion increased the amounts of transported anthocyanins and phenolic acids through Caco-2 monolayers by about two times. The study suggested that anthocyanins are transported in intact glycone form and that increasing their concentration could not change absorption efficiency and lead to saturation of the absorption mechanism [79].