BOLOGNA, Italy, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- A plant used by ancient Britons and Celts for blue war paint has been found to be a rich source of an anti-cancer compound, says an Italian study.
The anti-cancer compound Glucobrassicin is obtained from Woad, a member of the Brassicaceae family. Glucobrassicin has been traditionally associated with broccoli, according to Stefania Galletti and her team at the University of Bologna, Italy.
Galletti found that the plant contains 20 times more cancer fighting chemical glucobrassicin than its relative, broccoli.
The researchers also found that wounding the leaves can increase the compound levels by 30 percent.
Glucobrassicin has shown an active role in flushing out cancer-causing chemicals including derivatives of estrogen; women with higher levels of this hormone are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
There have been many studies on the health benefits of the broccoli family.
The findings are published in the Journal of the Science of Agriculture.
