A new study has revealed that wild strawberries are the best source of reducing cancer risk.
The research led by Dr. Shiow Y. Wang, a plant physiologist and biochemist at the U. S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service suggested that wild strawberries are an important source of vitamin C which a natural antioxidant that attracts and reduce the effect of highly reactive molecules that damage the body's natural cancer fighting cell.
Dr. Wang recommended that antioxidants are natural plant chemicals that play an important role in promoting human health.
“While we have known that wild strawberries are a good source for obtaining desirable traits to be used in breeding programs, little information was available on antioxidant activities and their inhibitory effects on the growth of cancer cells in specific species of wild strawberries, " said Wang.
Researchers also discovered seven types of wild strawberries that contain higher antioxidant levels and more potential to reduce cancer risk.
"These seven types may be especially useful in developing cultivars with greater anticancer potential. They showed significantly greater anti-proliferation effects than other genotypes we tested", he added.
Varieties of the "super seven" strawberries may soon become available in local markets in the U.S., giving consumers a sweet new way to fight cancer.
The study is published in the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science.
LIN/P
