Lemongrass Kills Cancer Cells
A friend in Malaysia kindly sent me an email alerting me to research conducted by Ben Gurian University, Israel and I looked it up on the University web site, under “News@BGU November 2005″ and reprint it here, direct from the web site…
*** The Cure is in a Cup of Herbal Tea ***
Citral, the key component that gives the lemony aroma and taste in several herbal plants such as lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus), melissa (Melissa officinalis) and verbena (Verbena officinalis), was demonstrated to kill cancerous cells while leaving healthy ones unharmed, according to a recent study done at the University.
The research group included Prof. Yakov Weinstein, incumbent of the Albert Katz Chair in Cell-Differentiation and Malignant Diseases from the Faculty of Health Sciences; Dr. Rivka Ofir from the Hazeva Research and Development Center of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research; and technicians from the Division of Aromatic Plants, Agricultural Research Organization in Ramat Ishai. The results were recently published in the periodical Planta medica, which highlights research on alternative and herbal remedies.
According to Ofir, the study found that citral causes cancer cells to “commit suicide: using apoptosis, a mechanism called programmed cell death.” The concentration of citral required to kill the cancer cells is relatively low and is present in drinks in which there is only a single gram of lemon herbs.
Investigators checked the influence of citral on cancerous cells by adding them to both cancerous cells and normal cells that were grown in a petri dish. The quantity added in the concentrate was equivalent to the amount contained in a cup of regular tea using one gram of lemon herbs in hot water. The citral killed the cancerous cells and not the normal cells.
“This suggests that herbs containing citral may be consumed as a preventative measure against certain cancerous cells,” says Ofir.
Ref: http://www.bgu.ac.il
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