Indian Sapota fruit could prevent cancer

From the Khaleej Times: 

The sweet and succulent chikoo or Sapota fruit, a popular ingredient for desserts, could well be the answer to halt cancer from spreading, according to a study by Indian scientists.

Researchers have now shown methanolic (alcoholic) extracts of the whole fruit possess certain active phytochemicals (plant-derived compounds) that can trigger a sequence of orchestrated events in tumor cells leading to their death (a process called apoptosis).

“There was a preliminary study which had used two of the phytochemicals isolated from Sapota fruit on cancer cell lines. Ours is the first study using whole fruit methanolic extracts which explores anti-cancer properties of the same on different cancer cell lines and on animal models.

“Our results indicate that inclusion of Sapota fruit in our daily diet may protect from genesis and progression of cancer,” Sathees C. Raghavan, associate professor at the department of Biochemistry, IISc, told IANS in an email interaction.

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