J Food Biochem. 2019;e12781. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfbc © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1 of 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfc.12781 1 | INTRODUCTION Due to growing interest of consumers for healthy food rich in natural bioactive compounds, wild edible plants became important focus of current healthy food‐related scientific research. Wild edible plants are known as an important aspect of the Mediterranean diet that has recently been recognized as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO (2013). In Croatia, there is a long tradition of the use of wild edible plants. In that sense, Asparagus acutifolius L. (wild asparagus) is one of the favorite and most valuable wild veg‐ etables. According to the available data, A. acutifolius L. is very pop‐ ular in other Mediterranean countries as well, like Italy (Salvatore Received: 9 July 2018 | Revised: 2 January 2019 | Accepted: 7 January 2019 DOI: 10.1111/jfbc.12781 FULL ARTICLE Antiproliferative and pro‐apoptotic activities of wild asparagus ( Asparagus acutifolius L.), black bryony (Tamus communis L.) and butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus L.) aqueous extracts against T24 and A549 cancer cell lines Tea Bilušić 1 | Ivana Šola 2 | Gordana Rusak 2 | Danijela Poljuha 3 | Vedrana Čikeš Čulić 4 1 Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, Department of Food Technology, University of Split, Split, Croatia 2 Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia 3 Institute of Agriculture and Tourism, Poreč, Croatia 4 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Split, Split, Croatia Correspondence Tea Bilušić, Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, Department of Food Technology, University of Split, R. Boškovića 35, 21 000 Split, Croatia. Email: tea@ktf‐split.hr Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the phenolic profile, antiproliferative, and pro‐apoptotic activities of Asparagus acutifolius, Tamus communis, and Ruscus aculea‐ tus aqueous extracts against human bladder (T24) and lung cancer (A549) cell lines. Antiproliferative activity of the extracts at the concentration range from 0.5 to 4 mg/ ml was measured by MTT test, after the incubation period of 4, 24, 48, or 72 hr. Pro‐ apoptotic activity of selected plant extracts against T24 and A549 cells was analyzed by flow cytometry at the concentrations of 0.5, 1, and 2 mg/ml. The highest antipro‐ liferative activity against both cancer cell lines was detected by T. communis aqueous extract. The highest pro‐apoptotic effect was achieved by A. acutifolius aqueous ex‐ tract and its effect was similar against A549 and T24 cells. Practical applications Wild edible plants, such as wild asparagus, black bryony, and butcher’s broom repre‐ sent important aspect of the Mediterranean diet. They are rich source of various natural bioactive compounds which express different biological activities (antioxida‐ tive, antiproliferative, antibacterial, anti‐inflammatory…). The current trend for natu‐ ral and healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, is in relation to the rapidly growing problem of chronic diseases in a modern society. Wild edible plants have a high direct‐use value using them in dishes containing mixed vegetables, in soup prep‐ aration, as natural additives in fermented natural products containing cheese or fish, in water infusions (natural drinks). KEYWORDS A549, antiproliferative, apoptose, cancer cells, phenolic profile, T24, wild edible plants