From Forestry By-Product to Functional Food Ingredient Innovation: Investigating the Antiproliferative, Antimetastatic, and Antiplasmodial Properties of Norway Spruce Sawdust

The Norway spruce (Picea abies) is a forest resource whose by-products contain bioactive compounds such as galactoglucomannan (GGM), catechin, and epicatechin, recognized for their antioxidant and chemopreventive potential. Given these properties, we evaluated the antiproliferative, antimetastatic, genotoxic, and antimalarial activities of the Norway spruce by-product extract (NSBE). Considering its chemical composition and multifunctional profile, NSBE emerges as a promising candidate for development as a functional bioingredient. NSBE exhibited concentration-responsive antiproliferative and antimetastatic effects, reducing cell adhesion by 33.96% in A549 and 40.15% in HCT-8 cells, and suppressing clonogenic capacity by up to 90% and 75%, respectively. The extract also preserved basal chromosomal integrity and demonstrated a protective effect at 10 µg GAE/mL against cisplatin-induced genotoxicity. In antiplasmodial assays, NSBE showed strong inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum W2 (chloroquine-resistant) and 3D7 (chloroquine-sensitive) strains, with IC₅₀ values below 3.5 µg GAE/mL. Its potency was supported by a selectivity index (SI) of 13, surpassing the recommended threshold for natural antimalarial candidates. Altogether, these findings highlight the NSBE as a sustainable and multifunctional food ingredient with relevant antiproliferative and antiplasmodial properties.