Asparagus Effects on Liver Cancer

Asparagus
Asparagus is a flowering plant belongings to species the genus Asparagus, native to the western coasts of northern Spain, north to Ireland, Great Britain, and northwest Germany, northern Africa, and western Asia. Asparagus has been used from early times as a vegetable and medicine, because of its delicate flavor and diuretic properties.
Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells growing and multiplying disordered and uncontrollable way in our body, have become progressively worse and damaged other healthy tissues, sometimes spreads to other organs in the body via lymph or blood and results may be in death.
Liver Cancer is defined as a condition of the abnormal proliferation of cells in the liver.

Nutrients and chemical constituents
1. Vitamin K
2. Folate
3. Vitamin C
4. Vitamin A
5. Vitamin B Complex
a) Vitamin B1
b) Vitamin B2
c) Vitamin B3
d) Vitamin B6
6. Fiber
7. Manganese
8. Copper
9. Phosphorus
10. Potassium
11. Protein
12. Etc.

Its chemical constituents include essential oils, asparagine, arginine, tyrosine, flavonoids (kaempferol, quercetin, and rutin), resin, and tannin.

The benefits
Asparagus may be one of the potential herb used in the future to treat liver cancers as its chemical constituents exert their anti-cancer properties in many studies.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most aggressive malignancies in the world, but deproteinized asparagus polysaccharide exerts potent selective cytotoxicity against hepatocellular carcinoma Hep3B and HepG2 cells. in vitro and in vivo, according to the researchers team lead by Dr. Xiang J. Others in the analysis of Shatavari IV isolated from ethyl acetate insoluble fraction (AR-2B) of chloroform:methanol (2:1) (AR-2) extract of A. racemosus roots, indicated that Shatavari exhibits significant anticancer activity in both in vitro and in vivo experimental models. In fact, intakes of celery, mushrooms, allium vegetables, composite vegetables (including asparagus lettuce and garland chrysanthemum), legumes and legume products were widely known to associate with reduced liver cancer risk.

 Side effects
It may cause allergic effects and temporarily smelly urination.


Reference
(1) Chemical constituents of Asparagus J. S. Negi, P. Singh, [...], and V. K. Bisht (PubMed)
(2) Anticancer effects of deproteinized asparagus polysaccharide on hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. by Xiang J, Xiang Y, Lin S, Xin D, Liu X, Weng L, Chen T, Zhang M.(PubMed)
(3) Shatavarins (containing Shatavarin IV) with anticancer activity from the roots of Asparagus racemosus. by Mitra SK, Prakash NS, Sundaram R.(PubMed)
(4) Vegetable-based dietary pattern and liver cancer risk: results from the Shanghai women's and men's health studies. by Zhang W, Xiang YB, Li HL, Yang G, Cai H, Ji BT, Gao YT, Zheng W, Shu XO.(PubMed)