Veg pigments may provide cancer treatment

A new study has potentially paved the way for a new cancer treatment after researchers found that the colour-causing compounds in many fruits and vegetables may contain anti-cancer properties.

Researchers at Ohio State University found that bowel cancer cells treated with compounds called anthocyanins grew much slower, particularly if the extracts came from purple corn vegetables.

According to lead author Dr Monica Giusti, who presented the team's findings at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers are "just starting to figure out what they are and which ones provide the most health benefits".

Dr Giusti also revealed that the compounds may be particularly useful as a gastrointestinal cancer treatment.

Cancer Research UK's senior information officer, Henry Scowcroft, told the BBC: "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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