A new variety of purple sweet potato, dubbed a ‘superfood’, has been touted as a cure for cancer.
The new designer sweet potato has been grown for its anti-cancer purple pigment and is also said to contain anti-ageing and antioxidant chemicals.
An expert in the US has developed the variety of sweet potato with a thick purple skin and flesh to increase its cancer-fighting properties.
Soyoung Lim, a researcher from Kansas State University, said the colouring contained the chemical anthocyanin, which lowers the risk of cancer and could even slow down certain types of the disease
The potato differs from purple varieties already in the shops because both flesh and skin are purple, according to Lim.
Scientists used two strands of anthocyanin to treat colon cancer and found the pigment slowed down the growth of cancerous cells.
The specially grown purple sweet potato has a higher concentration of anthocyanin than other species of potato. The chemical, which produces purple, red or blue colours in different food, can also be found in blueberries, red grapes and red cabbage.
The high-concentration purple sweet potato is due for clinical trials next year.
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