UHPLC-MS reveals steamed P notoginseng may combat liver cancer

Liver cancer could be combated using steamed Panax notoginseng, according to ultra high performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) analysis of the root.

Powdered, uncooked P notoginseng roots were steamed for a variety of different periods of time by a team of scientists from the National University of Singapore, Republic Polytechnic and Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences.

Their findings are published in Chinese Medicine, a periodical from the International Society for Chinese Medicine which addresses all aspects of the discipline.

Using UHPLC-MS to analyse the chemical profiles of the roots after steaming, the scientists were looking for anti-proliferative effects on liver cancer cells.

Intriguingly, they found the chemical changes associated with up to 24 hours of steaming enhanced the anti-cancer effects of the roots.

"Steaming changed chromatographic and pharmacological profiles of P notoginseng, causing differences in activities such as inhibition of cancer growth," the researchers report in their study.