The ever elusive cure for cancer could be on its way to being
found as a recent study on anti-cancer and free radical scavenging activity of
some Nigerian food plants shows that regular intake
of local spices and vegetables such as bitter leaf, uziza and several others
could prove effective in tackling the disease.
The study
conducted by Nigerians and Chinese was published in the February 25th,
2015 edition of the International Journal of Cancer
Research.
According
to the research team, the study was designed to screen different extracts of 15
commonly consumed Nigerian food plants for anti-cancer and free radical
scavenging activities.
The
cytotoxic activity of each of the extracts was then tested against human
myeloid leukemia, human hepatocellular carcinoma, human lung carcinoma, human
breast adenocarcinoma and colon cancer cell lines using Cisplatin as standard.
The
dichloromethane extract of Vernonia amygdalina leaves (bitter leaf) showed the
strongest cytotoxic activity against all the cancer cell lines, dichloromethane
extract of Gongronema latifolium leaves (utazi) showed the highest activity
against A-549 and MCF-7 with IC50 of 9.57 and 6.51 μg mL-1, respectively, while
Piper guineense leaves (black pepper or uziza) exhibited the highest activity
against HL-60 with IC50 of 3.62 μg mL-1.
Translation: Results from the study suggest that some of
the food plants screened may possess anti-cancer and antioxidant properties.
Said the
authors,
"This study reveals that several plant foods that are
commonly consumed in Nigeria could have anti-cancer potential, which could
provide a plausible explanation for the apparently and comparatively lower
incidence of cancer.”
Another
study on Nigerian foodstuffs with prostate cancer chemo-preventive polyphenols
published in Infectious Agent Cancer by Sunday Eneojo Atawodi,
found that foods like local pear, nutmeg, tomatoes widely reported to
posses prostate cancer chemo-preventive compounds.
The study
concluded by saying:
"The high incidence of prostate cancer among males of African
extraction can be dramatically reduced, and the age of onset drastically
increased, if the population at risk consumes the right kinds of foods in the
right proportion, beginning early in life, especially as prostate cancer has a
latency period of about 50 years.”
Source: http://pulse.ng/health/groundbreaking-nigerian-study-finds-local-plants-can-be-used-to-fight-cancer-id3887017
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