Anticancer and Immuno-Activities of Edible Crude Saponin from Soybean Cake

To develop a new functional food material, edible crude saponin was isolated from soybean cake using HP-20 resin and its anticancer effect and immune-activity were investigated. The saponin significantly inhibited the growth of cancer cells such as A549, MCF-7 and SW480 at a concentration of 1,000 g/mL. Morphological changes was observed in the AS49 cells surface treated with the saponin of 1,000 g/mL concentration. The proliferation of mouse spleen cells treated with saponin was increased in a dose-dependent manner compared with untreated control cells until the concentration of 1 g/mL but decreased at higher concentrations than that. The NO production in marcrophage cell lines (RAW 264.7) treated with saponin was increased in a dosedependent manner compared with untreated control cells.