Sorrel research deepens

Richard Bryan, Gleaner Writer

MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

THE PROSPECTS for sorrel as a substantive addition to the menu of options being explored to treat several different types of cancers has got stronger, ongoing research has found.

Renewed interest on the subject was sparked locally when Mandeville-based Northern Caribbean University (NCU) announced in a promotional partnership with Grace Foods in 2009 that preliminary work had shown that in addition to qualities as an oxidant, sorrel had an impact as an anti-cancer agent.

According to Dr Paul Gyles, dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences, early work had commenced as far back as 2002, culminating in the presentation of these findings at the annual conference of the American Society for Cell Biology in 2009.

Th,at level of authentication, he said, paved the way for further investigation of sorrel, which is also produced in large amounts in India, Malaysia and Brazil.

"Although the plant itself is similar to others found in these countries, I do believe the one in Jamaica has something special," he told The Gleaner.

scale of benefits

Gyles said he was particularly impressed with the scale of benefits, including level of protein content found in sorrel seeds. The obvious move, was, therefore to expand the research, and engaging international avenues.

NCU then collaborated with Loma Linda University, an upscale Adventist institution in California, where another significant break-through, using the same Jamaican sorrel, was unearthed. The Loma Linda collaboration also saw a positive response to oral and breast cancer cells.

These findings were presented as part of a special presentation delivered recently at NCU's Inventors, Researchers and Entrepreneurs Exhibition by Dr Neal Johnson, assistant professor of Microbiology in the Oral Diagnosis, Radiology and Pathology department at Loma Linda.

Johnson, a Barbadian who is also an alumnus of NCU, revealed that "Hibiscus Sabdariffa (sorrel) extract induces cell death in an Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cell line."

The sum total of the research so far, revealed Gyles, now means a concentrated effort undertaken with Loma Linda, to look at the possibility of arriving at a pharmaceutical dosage.

The University of West Indies, he disclosed, is also looking at the sorrel compound.