Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Bitter wild fruits can help treat cancer

Darpan News Desk IANS, 28 Nov, 2014 12:41 PM
    The compounds that give bitter flavour to wild cucurbits - cucumber, pumpkin, melon, watermelon and squash - have the potential to treat cancer and diabetes, finds a research.
     
    These compounds called cucurbitacins protect the wild plants against predators and have the potential to suppress growth of cancer cells.
     
    The fruit and leaves of wild cucurbits have been used in Indian and Chinese medicine for thousands of years, as emetics and purgatives and to treat liver disease.
     
    "You do not eat wild cucumber unless you want to use it as a purgative," said study co-author William Lucas, professor of plant biology at University of California, Davis.
     
    The researchers identified the genes responsible for the intense bitter taste of wild cucumbers.
     
    They employed the latest in DNA sequencing technology to identify the exact changes in DNA associated with bitterness.
     
    They were able to identify nine genes involved in making cucurbitacin and show that the trait can be traced to two transcription factors that switch on these nine genes, in either leaves or the fruit, to produce cucurbitacin.
     
    The new research shows how domestication tweaked cucumber genetics to make the fruit more edible.
     
    The study appeared in the journal Science.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Google Is Developing Tiny Particles That Would Search for Problems in Your Bloodstream

    Google Is Developing Tiny Particles That Would Search for Problems in Your Bloodstream
    LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - Google is working on a cancer-detecting pill in its latest effort to push the boundaries of technology.

    Google Is Developing Tiny Particles That Would Search for Problems in Your Bloodstream

    Black tea, citrus fruits lower ovarian cancer risk

    Black tea, citrus fruits lower ovarian cancer risk
    Having black tea and citrus fruits daily - and red wine occasionally - may lower the risk of developing ovarian cancer, research shows....

    Black tea, citrus fruits lower ovarian cancer risk

    Sleep disturbances linked to higher Alzheimer's risk in men

    Sleep disturbances linked to higher Alzheimer's risk in men
    Elderly men with self-reported sleep disturbances run a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than men without self-reported sleep disturbances, says a study....

    Sleep disturbances linked to higher Alzheimer's risk in men

    How body clock governs female fertility

    How body clock governs female fertility
    Treating infertility in women may soon have a new approach as researchers have now identified the biological clock that governs female fertility....

    How body clock governs female fertility

    Google scientists to find 'hidden' cancer via nanoparticles

    Google scientists to find 'hidden' cancer via nanoparticles
    In a pioneering research, a Google life sciences team - which has two senior Indian-origin researchers - is set to find signs of deadly diseases...

    Google scientists to find 'hidden' cancer via nanoparticles

    Vitamin D can curb asthma attacks

    Vitamin D can curb asthma attacks
    Boosting Vitamin D levels in deficient asthmatics could help manage asthma flare-ups, Israeli researchers have found....

    Vitamin D can curb asthma attacks