Desert truffles can grow in the sand in dry conditions and they have high nutritional value. Find them growing wild in the Mediterranean basin and Western Asia. Many studies have looked at the nutrition in desert truffles, including their phytochemical composition as potential anti-cancer therapies but a study led by a researcher from Amman, Jordan, looked specifically at the anticancer effects of Terfezia boudieri, a delicious desert truffle.
The researchers applied different solvent extracts from the truffle and the researchers tested these chemical properties against different kinds of cancers in the lab. assay was used to measure their anticancer activity against cancer cell lines.
The scientists found that the growth of cancer cell lines was inhibited by the desert truffle extracts in a dose dependent manner which the chemical N-hexane extracted from the truffle as being the most potent against most cancers as part of the study. The researchers concluded that the use of T. boudieri provides variable health benefits and specifically the extracts N-hexane, ethyl acetate, and aqueous/methanol extracts exhibited anticancer activities and are potent stimulators of both innate and acquired immunity.
The researchers were from the Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan, the Pharmacy Department, AlNoor University College, Mosul, Iraq and the Department of Health Sciences, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The research was published in the Frontiers of Nutrition journal.
Further testing is needed to identify the biologically active compounds and detect them quantitatively using scientific methods. A new door of research for scientists in the Mediterranean?
Read more about Middle East truffles here and here.
