Living
Mango. If you know little about this fruit, understand this: It’s been found to prevent or stop certain colon and breast cancer cells in the lab.
That’s according to a new study by scientists, who examined the five varieties most common in some countries.
Though the mango is an ancient fruit heavily consumed in many parts of the world, little has been known about its health aspects. The National Mango Board commissioned a variety of studies to help determine its nutritional value.
“If you look at what people currently perceive as a superfood, people think of high antioxidant capacity, and mango is not quite there,” said Dr. Susanne Talcott, who with her husband, Dr. Steve Talcott, conducted the study on cancer cells. “In comparison with antioxidants in blueberry, acai and pomegranate, it’s not even close.”
But the team checked mango against cancer cells anyway, and found it prevented or stopped cancer growth in certain breast and colon cell lines, Susanne Talcott noted.
“It has about four to five times less antioxidant capacity than an average wine grape, and it still holds up fairly well in anticancer activity. If you look at it from the physiological and nutritional standpoint, taking everything together, it would be a high-ranking super food,” she said. “It would be good to include mangoes as part of the regular diet.”
The Talcotts tested mango polyphenol extracts in vitro on colon, breast, lung, leukemia and prostate cancers. Polyphenols are natural substances in plants and are associated with a variety of compounds known to promote good health.
Mango showed some impact on lung, leukemia and prostate cancers but was most effective on the most common breast and colon cancers.
“What we found is that not all cell lines are sensitive to the same extent to an anticancer agent,” she said. “But the breast and colon cancer lines underwent apotosis, or programmed cell death. Additionally, we found that when we tested normal colon cells side by side with the colon cancer cells, that the mango polyphenolics did not harm the normal cells.”
The duo did further tests on the colon cancer lines because a mango contains both small molecules that are readily absorbed and larger molecules that would not be absorbed and thus remain present in a colon.
“We found the normal cells weren’t killed, so mango is not expected to be damaging in the body,” she said. “That is a general observation for any natural agent, that they target cancer cells and leave the healthy cells alone, in reasonable concentrations at least.”
The Talcotts evaluated polyphenolics, and more specifically gallotannins as being the class of bioactive compounds (responsible for preventing or stopping cancer cells). Tannins are polyphenols that are often bitter or drying and found in such common foods as grape seed, wine and tea.
The study found that the cell cycle, which is the division cells go through, was interrupted. This is crucial information, Suzanne Talcott said, because it indicates a possible mechanism for how the cancer cells are prevented or stopped.
Dubbed the ‘king of fruits’, it has been found to reduce the adverse effects of unhealthy diets and destroy fat cells.
It also slowed the growth of breast tumours in mice.
A study also showed the superfood boosted bowel movements in humans and eased inflammation after constipation.
The findings, presented at the Experimental Biology meeting in the United States, adds to evidence of the benefits of the tropical fruit which is rich in fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fat busting phytochemicals.
In one study nutritionist Babajide Ojo, of Oklahoma State University, found mice put on less weight when freeze dried mango pulp was added to a high fat diet.
Mr Ojo, a doctoral student, said: “These findings demonstrated mango supplementation in high fat feeding modulated some of the adverse effects that accompanies high fat diet-induced obesity.”
In lab tests food scientist molecular biolgist Chuo Fang, of Texas A&M University, also found mango boosted metabolism of fats.
She said: “These results suggest a diet abundant in mango might be helpful in the prevention of obesity and obesity related diseases.”
Obesity is estimated to affect around one in four adults and one in five children in the UK and can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke.
These results suggest a diet abundant in mango might be helpful in the prevention of obesity
A third study by toxicologist Matt Nemec, also at Texas A&M University, found a polyphenol in mango called pyrogallol, a microbial metabolite of gallotannin, suppressed the growth of breast cancer in mice.
Mr Nemec said: “It is estimated one in ten newly diagnosed cancer cases will be female breast cancer, and therefore there is an ongoing need to research novel treatment options.
“Polyphenolics are secondary plant metabolites that have been shown to have anti cancer effects in multiple cancer models without the deleterious side effects of conventional small molecules.
“Findings indicate a diet rich in gallotannins that are microbially metabolised to pyrogallol may prevent the advancement of breast cancer.”
