Dark fruits could fight cancer
Published August 20th, 2007
The compounds which give certain fruit and vegetables their dark colour may contain powerful cancer fighting properties, US research suggests.
Studies on rats and human cells found anthocyanins - which colour red, purple and blue fruits - notably slowed the growth of colon cancer cells.
The more exotic the plant the better: purplecorn and bilberry were found to be much more potent than the radish.
The research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
In some experiments, the researchers from Ohio State University saw cancer growth not just slowed, but as many as 20% of the cells killed.
For instance, anthocyanin pigments obtained from black carrots and radishes slowed the growth of cancer cells by between 50 to 80%.
But compounds from chokeberries for instance killed up to a fifth of existing cells, without impacting upon healthy ones.
Henry Scowcroft, senior information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “Although at an early stage, this research helps us understand exactly how the substances in fruit and veg protect us from bowel cancer.
“Isolating these substances - and tweaking them so that they’re even more potent - could allow scientists to develop new drugs to treat the disease.
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