click to read full story from KTKA.comManhattan — Manhattan - Many K-State fans say they bleed purple, but soon they may be baking purple too.
New research at the university is studying whether pies baked with purple sweet potatoes can reduce the risk of cancer.
George Wang is a human nutrition professor at K-State who studies cancer prevention through dietary means. He is also leading the Purple Pride Sweet Potato Pie project, which stems from a project years ago.
These purple holiday concoctions all started with a K-State horticulturist named Ted Carey who got seeds from purple sweet potato parent plants from the potato center's germplasma bank in Peru. He stuck those seeds in Kansas soil and those potatoes gave Wang an idea.
"We think this special purple sweet potato is much higher in anthocyanins and may have potential cancer prevention," Wang said.
Anthocyanin is a pigment associated with reduced risk of cancer and higher levels are found in the purple sweet potatoes.
The idea to use the potatoes in a pie came from a student.
"Most of the sweetness comes from the natural color, so we actually cut in half the sugar used in a normal pie and whoever you’re testing, they still tell you it’s really sweet from the natural phytochemicals," Wang said.
Wang sees this as not only an opportunity to reduce the risk of cancer, but also to help out Kansas farmers.
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