Eating red onions may help to fight cancer

Toronto, June 8: Dark red onions, known as the richest source of dietary flavoring, may help fight off cancer of the colon and breast, a researchers has suggested.

"We found that onions are excellent at killing cancer cells,"Abdulmonem Murayyan said, doctoral student at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.

"Onions activate pathways that encourage cancer cells to undergo cell death. They promote an unfavorable environment for cancer cells and disrupt communication between cancer cells, which inhibits growth," he added.

The findings, published recently in the journal Food Research International, revealed that red onions contain high levels of Quercetin -- a plant poly phenol from the flavoring group, found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, and grains -- and include benefits such as lowering inflammation and fighting allergies, among others.

Further, red onions were also found to have high amounts of Anthocyanin, which enriches the scavenging properties of Quercetin molecules.

"Anthocyanin is instrumental in providing color to fruits and vegetables so it makes sense that the red onions, which are darkest in color, would have the most cancer-fighting power," he said.

In the first study, to examine how effective onions are at killing cancer cells, researchers have found that not all onions are created equal.

The team tested five onion types grown in Ontario and discovered that the Ruby Ring onion variety -- that has hard, firm, tall globe-shaped bulbs with dark red color features -- came out on top.

When cells of the colon and breast cancer were placed in direct contact with Quercetin extracted from the five different onion varieties, the team found them effective at killing the cancerous cells.

"The next step will be to test the vegetable's cancer-fighting powers in human trials," he said.

While currently this super food can be included in salads and on burgers as a preventative measure, researchers expect onion extract will eventually be added to food products such as juice or baked goods and be sold in pill form as a type of natural cancer treatment.