
Mining Health Treasures from SoybeansBy Ben Hardin May 3, 1999Agricultural Research Service scientists
are combing through leftovers from soybean oil and protein extraction,
searching for components that might help cancer-free people stay that way. The idea is to add DNA-friendly compounds--termed chemoprotectants--to food
additives and pharmaceuticals. Some natural and synthetic chemicals cause DNA
disruptions that sometimes result in malignancies, but chemoprotectants help
protect against irreversible cell damage. Soybeans and many other foods are already known to contain substances termed
antioxidants that can help prevent cell mutations. Some of these antioxidative
soy extracts, called isoflavones, are being marketed as food additives. But ARS
scientists at the National Center for
Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., and their
University of Illinois colleagues at
Champaign are prospecting for new chemoprotectants. The soy leftovers comprise a gooey molasses that has been used as livestock
feed. Chemoprotectants isolated from these leftovers could become, pound for
pound, more valuable than the main processed soy products. A light brown powder
called phytochemical concentrate (PCC), isolated from the molasses, contains a
mixture of these potent materials. In the research, university scientists expose cell cultures of Chinese
hamster lungs and ovaries to PCC components prepared by the ARS scientists.
Then they challenge the cells with a chemical known to induce tumors. Later,
they assess DNA breakage in the cells and identify the most protective PCCs.
In preliminary studies, mice fed certain PCC components seem to be protected
from some forms of cell damage. These components, not yet detailed in
scientific literature, include molecules that are much more antimutagenic than
flavonoids. Flavonoids are antioxidants found in many foods. The research, supported in part by the
United Soybean Board, may serve as
a model for research on other foods. An article about the research appears in the May issue of Agricultural Research magazine
and online at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/may99/soy0599.htm Scientific contact: Mark A. Berhow and
Steven F. Vaughn, ARS,
National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Ill., phone
(309) 681-6595, fax (309) 681-6693,
[email protected](Berhow) and [email protected]
(Vaughn). U.S. Department of Agriculture | |