Mango fights cancer

One study reported earlier on foodconsumer.org shows papaya extracts may help fight cancer. Now another study in the March 5 2010 issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests that mango may also do the same thing.

Noratto G.D. and colleagues from Department of Nutritionn and Food Science at Texas A&M University in College Station Texas tested anticancer activity of polyphenolic extracts from several mango varieties including Francis, Kent, Ataulfo, Tommy Atkins and Haden in cancer cell lines including Molt-4 leukemia, A-549 lung, MDA-MB-231 breast, LnCap prostate and SW-480 colon cancer cells and the non-cancer colon cell line CCD-18Co.

The researchers found Ataulfo and Haden extracts had higher anticancer activity than other varieties Kent, Francis, and Tommy Atkins.  Ataulfo at 5 mg of GAE/L inhibited the growth of colon SW-480 cancer cells by about 72 percent while it did not inhibit the noncancer colon cells.

They also found Ataulfo and Haden polyphenolics exerted their anticancer activityy against colon SW-480 cancer cells by increasing mRNAexpressionon of pro-apoptotic biomarkers and cell cycle regulators, cell cycle arrest and reducing reactive oxygen species.

By David Liu