Researchers at Texas A&M University have found that polyphenolic compounds found in mangos are effective in fighting breast cancer. The researchers used the compounds in laboratory experiments. They found that the mango compounds decreased breast cancer cell proliferation by 90 percent.
Susanne Talcott, an assistant professor of nutrition and food science and the director of research at the Institute for Obesity Research and Program Evaluation at the university notes that results in the laboratory do not necessarily translate into similar results when the cells are in the human body. But she stated that the research “moved us closer to determining whether mango polyphenols will have cancer-fighting effects on human beings. So far, the indications are positive, but a lot of work will have to be done to determine the actual concentration of mango metabolites in target tissues.”
Dr. Talcott holds a master’s degree from the University of Bonn in Germany. She earned a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences at the University of Florida.