Rapid extraction method followed by a d-SPE clean-up step for determination of phenolic composition and antioxidant and antiproliferative activities from berry fruits

•Berry extracts were obtained by a one-step extraction method followed by clean-up step.•d-SPE clean-up step was selective to remove the interfering compounds.•Catechin, rutin and chlorogenic acid were the major compounds found in the berries.•Berry extracts revealed antioxidant properties for in vitro methods.•Berry extracts restrain the proliferation of different cancer cell lines. Despite the numerous studies that have shown a wide range of biological activities to berry fruits, scientific data focusing on modern, rapid and simple extraction methods followed by a clean-up step is still lacking. Therefore, the present work was aimed at investigating the use of a fast one-step solid–liquid extraction procedure followed by a dispersive solid-phase extraction (d-SPE) clean-up step to evaluate the phenolic composition, antioxidant and antiproliferative activities from three of the principal berries found in Brazil, pomegranate (Punica granatum L.), blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius Schott.), and strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.). Under the optimized extraction conditions, sixteen phenolic compounds were determined by UHPLC-MS/MS analysis and all berry extracts showed antioxidant activity and antiproliferative effects on cervical (HeLa) and colon (HT-29) cancer cells. Overall, these results highlight the importance of the clean-up step for more reliable data in studies of health-promoting proprieties from berry fruits.