Darker fruits could fight cancer

The compounds which give certain fruit and vegetables their dark colour may contain powerful cancer fighting properties, US research suggests.

The more exotic the plant the better: purplecorn and bilberry were found to be much more potent than the radish.

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.