Fight cancer the purple way

By 9. September 2015Blog, Health, Nutrition

Purple potato that this. Yes, the humble potato comes in many shapes, sizes and shades of skin, but it is also available with purple flesh and this apparently has anti cancer properties.

Published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, the researchers wanted to see if extracts from cooked purple potato had any anti cancer stem cell activity. They had previously shown that the extract suppressed colon cancer cell proliferation and induced cell death.

They tested the extract on cancer cells in vitro and in mice and found in both cases it had anti cancer properties.

Antioxidants known as anthocyanins that give the potatoes their purple colour is assumed to be one of the components responsible for this activity. We reported back in November 2011 that these coloured potatoes also retain a lot of their antioxidants after processing.

So next time you’re making a potato salad or mashed potato, why not add a bit more colour to your plate?

Click here to read more