Researchers have shown that treatment with maslinic acid, a compound isolated from olive skin, can inhibit cell proliferation and cause apoptotic death in colon-cancer cells. It could eventually provide a cheap, effective way of controlling the disease.

A wide range of studies in recent years has shown that triterpenoids such as maslinic acid hinder carcinogenesis. A new study is the first to investigate the precise molecular mechanisms of the effects of maslinic acid on colon cancer.

Low concentrations of maslinic acid are found in many plants with medicinal properties, but its concentration in the skin of olives may be as high as 80 percent.