Tropical fruit in diabetes and cancer battles

Tropical fruit such as mango and paw paw may help in battling diabetes and cancer, according to a study by University of Queensland PhD student, Ashley Wilkinson.

The study analyses how individual components of the luscious summer fruits affect human cells. It was presented at the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress in Melbourne, and suggested that some mango components act on the same pathways that diabetes and cholesterol drugs take.

Dr Sarah Roberts-Thomson of the university’s school of pharmacy, who is supervising the work, said early results suggest some compounds in mangoes work by activating or inhibiting groups of receptors known as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors, or PPARs.

“We know some of the individual components activate these receptors or even inhibit them. That could end up with positive nutritional health benefits for diabetes and high cholesterol,” Dr Roberts-Thomson said.