Mejus were prepared with different black soybeans (BS) of var. Seoritae and Seomoctae. To check the anticancer effects of BS Mejus (BSM), MTT assay was performed in AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells. We found that the Seoritae and Seoritae-BSM significantly inhibited the growth of the AGS cells. The Seoritae-BS was separated into kernel and coat, and then these were cooked and fermented with the Asp. oryzae. The methanol extract of these samples was effectively inhibited the growth of the AGS cells. Especially black colored coat of Seoritae showed the highest effect on the AGS cells. This anticancer activity was diminished by cooking process. However, the effect was dramatically recovered by fermentation step. (Cancer Prev Res 12, 281-286, 2007)

Keywords: Black soybean, Seoritae, Meju, Anticancer