From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-573680-165625
MANHATTAN, Kan. (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says a specially cultivated
purple sweet potato may help fight cancer.
Soyoung Lim of Kansas State University in Manhattan in Kansas says the
Kansas-developed sweet potato has purple flesh high in anthocyanin --
a flavanoid responsible for red/blue pigment that may have an
anti-cancer effect.
"Sometimes we can find purple sweet potatoes in the grocery store, but
they don't have this purple color on the skin and inside," Lim said in
a statement.
Lim extracted and compared pigments from three kinds of sweet
potatoes. The Kansas potato had significantly higher anthocyanin
contents compared to the others. The analysis also found two
derivatives of anthocyanin were dominant -- cyanidin and peonidin --
which Lim used to treat human colon cancer cells.
Cyanidin and peonidin showed significant cell growth inhibition for
the cancer cells, but no significant changes in the cell cycle, Lim
says.
Lim presented the findings at the Experimental Biology Meeting held in
New Orleans.