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Colon and Liver Cancer

Cornell University researchers have reported that antioxidant phytonutrients in apples inhibited the growth of colon cancer and liver cancer cells in laboratory studies. While the beneficial phytonutrients were most strongly concentrated in the apple skin, the apple flesh also contained significant levels of phytonutrients. According to the researchers, 100 grams of unpeeled fresh apple – about two-thirds of a medium-sized apple – provided the antioxidant activity equivalent to 1,500 milligrams of vitamin C.

In addition, by enhancing biological mechanisms that produce anti-carcinogenic compounds during the fermentation process, apples and apple juice may have unique, protective effects in the colon. In a 2008 paper published in Nutrition, German researchers noted that the compound butyrate (a short chain fatty acid produced in the colon and suggested to be a chemopreventative metabolite) could be increased in the presence of apple pectin and apple juice extracts. As butyrate is thought to play an important role in the protective effect of natural fiber against colorectal cancer, the researchers note that "pectin-rich apple products can thus be expected to exert anticarginogenic effects in the colon."