Sunday September 6, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study published in the journal Cancer Research suggests that regularly taking a freeze dried black raspberry extract may help prevent certain types of cancer.

The study conducted in rats showed that a black raspberry extract prevented 462 genes from being affected by a cancer-causing agent.

Researchers from Ohio State University said 53 percent of the protected genes may be important in the development of cancer.

And they found the black raspberry extract they tested acted like a chemopreventative found in cruciferous vegetables. Both affect a similar array of genes.

G.D. Stoner and colleagues said many individual compounds found in black raspberries have been found to have cancer-preventative effects in animal studies.

For the study, the researchers fed rats a standard diet or a diet with 5 percent freeze dried black raspberry powder for three weeks and both the control group and the treated group were treated with a cancer-causing agent called N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine.

They found exposure to the chemical led to change in 2,261 genes in the oesophagi of the rats of which 462 genes were nearly normal in the treated rats. The tissue in the organ of the study rats looked better than that of the control rats.

Nutraingredients.com cited Stoner as saying that individual compounds may not be enough to prevent cancer and he never observed that berries 100 % prevented cancer. It may take more ingredients or nutrients to prevent cancer.