Garlic's a real stinker for cancer

21 July 2015 - 02:05 By Philani Nombembe

It might not do wonders for your breath, but garlic can kill cancer cells, according to research by the University of Cape Town. UCT lecturer Catherine Kaschula found that a compound contained in crashed garlic cloves, known as ajoene, kills cancer cells.Kaschula said garlic had been used in "folk medicine" for centuries for its beneficial health effects against infections, heart disease and cancer.Kaschula said her team has "developed the first synthetic route to ajoene analogues which has enabled us to synthesise bioactive analogues".She added: "Using this route, we have synthesised fluorescently tagged ajoenes which has enabled us to identify, for the first time, the ajoene target in cancer cells."Current work centres on identifying the specific proteins which are targeted by ajoene in cancer cells."..

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