Woad, the war paint of ancient Britons and Celts, could join the
armoury in the fight against breast cancer. New research has
found the plant Isatis tinctoria, a member of the cabbage
family, has 20 times the concentration of an anti-cancer
chemical than its cousin broccoli, already the subject of
research. The chemical glucobrassicin, one of a group of
compounds called glucosinolates, acts against oestrogen in the
human body, which can promote the growth of breast cancer. One
problem has been the difficulty of extracting enough
glucobrassicin from broccoli for research studies. So woad -
once grown to make blue dye, as worn by Mel Gibson in the film
Braveheart - may be a better alternative, scientists say.