Legumes and Tumors

[Nan]

Sydney Morning Herald, today

Legumes may hold the key to tumours

April 23, 2006 - 8:19AM

Australian scientists have found a compound in legumes which shows early promise as a way to starve cancerous tumours of their blood supply.

Molecular geneticist Peter Greshoff, of the University of Queensland, said the complex sugar compound had been tested on an umbilical cord vein in the laboratory and shown to be 88 per cent effective in inhibiting capillary growth.

The next step will be to see if the as-yet unnamed compound is able to choke the blood supply feeding cancerous tumours in mice.

While Professor Greshoff warned any possible human application could be a decade away, he said he was "very excited" about the research.

"If we can kill a tumour or starve the tumour in humans so that the natural process of the body reabsorbs it, then we have a winner," he said in an interview.

Two large pharmaceutical companies have already expressed interest in the research.

Prof Greshoff said although legumes had potential anti-cancerous properties such as being full of anti-oxidants, eating more of them would not give people a high dose of the compound which is found in the roots of the plant.

Legumes include plants like soy beans, chick peas, clover and even the Australian wattle.

Prof Greshoff, the director of the Australian Research Centre for Integrative Legume Research, described the idea to test the compound for its potential in treating cancer as a "eureka moment".

He said he had the idea while attending an unrelated seminar by a colleague.

© 2006 AAP

[Gail]

Australian wattle? Correct me, Nan- but aren't those the plants with the yellow flowers? Seems I've heard of them before

[Amelia]

I thought a wattle was the fat hangy down part under ones chin.

[Nan]

Yes Gail - there are many different sorts of wattle, but the flowers are basically yellow balls of fluff - I will post a couple of my own pictures. Neither of these are the Golden Wattle, which is a moderate sized tree with greeny grey feathery type leaves and the Australian national flower. I was not aware the wattle is classed with legumes, though they certainly produce seed in pods. Interestingly some of the pods will only germinate after they have been burnt - and the Australian bush is well known for bush or wild fires.

[Nan]

Here is a close up version -

[Nan]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />

Amelia said:

I thought a wattle was the fat hangy down part under ones chin.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Not so sure about 'one's' chin Amelia <img src="/adventist/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I thought that sort of wattle was found on birds as in roosters. <img src="/adventist/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

[Nan]

Here is the Australian red wattle bird, a honey eater. They have a very raucous call, my father always called them the "4 o'clock bird" because that is what the calls sounds like - Sammy thinks they say "Check-lock".

[aldona]

I see that wattle seed is making more and more of an appearance in the trendy "Australian bush food" movement - many of the fancy restaurants offer things like breads, cakes and cookies with crushed up wattle seed added. I haven't tasted it myself but I've heard some people compare it to the crunchy bits in "soy & linseed" bread.

aldona