From the stewed rhubarb and lumpy custard served up in school, to the random “rhubarb” muttering of actors to simulate background conversation in drama, and a dictionary definition linking it to “nonsense or rubbish” it has been for some the stuff of childhood ridicule and even amusement.
Monty Python’s John Cleese, accorded the ungainly plant a notable place in British comedy history with the Rhubarb Tart Song.
The researchers from the Dundee-based Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and Sheffield Hallam University armed with Delia Smith recipes, found baking British common garden rhubarb for 20 minutes dramatically increased its levels of anti-cancer chemicals.
The findings just published showed the chemicals, called polyphenols, could kill or prevent the growth of cancer cells and could be used to develop less toxic treatments for the disease, even in cases where cancers had proved resistant to other treatments.
It is the first time the benefits of British garden rhubarb, specifically a variety grown in South Yorkshire, have been studied.
Previous research focused on Oriental medicinal rhubarb, which has been recognised for its health benefits and used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years.
Academics now hope to discover the best combination of rhubarb’s polyphenols and chemotherapy agents needed to kill cancer cells.
Analysis showed that rhubarb -- first grown in this country in the 1760s for scientific purposes at Edinburgh’s Botanical Gardens -- has over 40 polyphenol components when raw, including anthraquinone, stilbene, anthocyanin and flavonol derivatives.
The researchers, who compared four different ways of cooking rhubarb -- blanching, slow cooking, fast cooking and baking -- found that most of the cooking regimes led to an increase in polyphenol content compared to the raw material , except blanching.
However, they indicated that over-cooking can reduce the benefits.
Dr Gordon McDougall, from SCRI’s Plant Products and Food Quality programme said: “The main thing we discovered is that rhubarb in Britain has anti-cancer and bioactive components.
“Our research has shown it is a potential source of pharmacological agents that may be used to develop anti-cancer drugs.
“We have also shown that the levels of these anti-cancer and bioactive components increase if you cook it in a certain way.
“Baking was the most gentle, in that it didn’t destroy those components but released them from the material. It is almost the most common way that
people cook rhubarb.”
The study concluded: “Baking for 20 minutes provided well-cooked rhubarb with the highest antioxidant capacity and the highest anthocyanin content.”
Expensive medicine and a tasty treat Rhubarb was the plant name given to many different species of Rheum, growing wild in the mountains of the western and north-western provinces of China and the adjoining Tibetan territory. It was initially cultivated for its medicinal qualities, being used for a variety of ailments particularly gut, lung and liver problems. Marco Polo is credited with bringing it to Europe in the 13th century when it was referred to as rhacoma root. As a drug it was said to be so highly regarded and much sought after that in 1657 in England it could command three times the price of Opium. It was not until the late 18th century that rhubarb was grown for culinary purposes in Britain and America. Rhubarb became part of the staple diet of Second World War Britain and Yorkshire’s “rhubarb triangle” became a national institution. Sticks of rhubarb and a bag of sugar were given to many children to substitute their sweet ration.
