You may know it as an aromatic spice to add flavor to your dishes or as a soothing herbal remedy to use for upsetting stomachs, but researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University have uncovered promising findings that Kencur, a tropical plant in the ginger family native to Southeast Asia, possesses anti-cancer effects.

Led by Associate Professor Akiko Kojima of the Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology, the researchers demonstrated that Kencur extract and its main active component, ethyl p-methoxycinnamate (EMC), significantly suppressed cancer cell growth at the cellular and animal levels.

While previous studies on EMC indicated its anti-cancer potential by decreasing the expression of mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), which is associated with cancer cell proliferation, the exact mechanism remained unclear until now. (Newswise/RN)