Forums: Nutrition

An array of studies from scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, is yielding new clues about the roles that compounds from plants may play in preventing cancer and other diseases. For example, molecular biologist Susan J. Zunino has investigated the role that certain compounds in strawberries may have in combating cancer. Her tests with lab-cultured cells of a cancer known as “acute lymphoblastic leukemia” have provided additional evidence that three compounds occurring naturally in strawberries—ellagic acid, kaempferol, and quercetin—can cause death, or significant damage, to certain lines of these leukemia cells. The...