Chelate-soluble pectin fraction from papaya pulp interacts with galectin-3 and inhibits colon cancer cell proliferation

Colorectal cancer has an overexpression of galectin-3 that is related to cancer progression. A decreased risk of colon cancer can be related to consumption of dietary fibers, but the entire mechanism by which this protection occurs remains unclear. Pectin is a type of dietary fiber that possesses β-galactosides and can bind and inhibit galectin-3–mediated effects. Papaya fruit has a massive cell wall disassembling during ripening that naturally changes its pectin structure. Our work shows that different points in the ripening time of papaya fruit exhibit pectins (chelate-soluble fractions; CSF) that can or cannot inhibit galectin-3. The fraction that inhibits galectin-3 (3CSF) also diminishes the proliferation of colon cancer cell lines, and it is derived from an intermediate point of papaya ripening. Therefore, we related this to a papaya pectin structure-dependent effect, and the papaya fruit seems to have a pectin structure that is promising in decreasing the risk of colon cancer development.