The development of anticancer therapies that involve natural drugs has undergone exponential growth in recent years. Among the natural compounds that produce beneficial effects on human health, polyphenols have shown potential therapeutic applications in cancer due to their protective functions in plants, their use as food additives, and their excellent antioxidant properties. The possibility of combining conventional drugs—which are usually more aggressive than natural compounds—with polyphenols offers very valuable advantages such as the building of more efficient anticancer therapies with less side effects on human health. This review shows a wide range of trials in which polyphenolic compounds play a crucial role as anticancer medicines alone or in combination with other drugs at different stages of cancer: cancer initiation, promotion, and growth or progression. Moreover, the future directions in applications of various polyphenols in cancer therapy are emphasized.

Encapsulation of agrochemicals allows growers to precisely control the conditions under which the active ingredient is released. Since zinc, copper, and calcium ions are essential micronutrients in crop production, the goal of our work was to incorporate them into alginate-based capsules, and to investigate the impact of their release on seed germination and seedling growth. Oriental mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.) was selected as a model crop. Among the tested ions, Cu²⁺ exhibited the greatest increase, followed by Zn²⁺, whereas Ca²⁺ showed the smallest increase, and its concentration declined over time when calcium-based capsules were applied. Performed studies demonstrate that released cations from the capsules into soil solution significantly affected seeds germination and biomass of mustard sprouts in laboratory tests. The release of Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ negatively influenced radicle development, with Cu²⁺ almost completely suppressing radicle elongation, and Zn²⁺ exhibiting a progressive inhibitory effect with increasing incubation time. Although, Ca²⁺ stimulated radicle elongation, it did not significantly affect total sprout and cotyledon biomass.