Pistachio nuts, roasting and colon cancer cells
What it found
In lab tests, fermented pistachios slowed the growth of colon adenoma cells, reduced DNA damage and increased cell death.
Roasting the nuts did not consistently change these effects.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Slowed cell growth
Fermentation liquids from raw and roasted pistachios reduced the growth of colon adenoma cells over 24, 48 and 72 hours. The effect was stronger with higher concentrations and longer times.
Less DNA damage
In lab tests, pistachio fermentation liquids were not genotoxic and reduced DNA damage caused by hydrogen peroxide by about 1.5-fold on average. Roasting did not clearly change this.
More cell death
Pistachio fermentation liquids increased the number of early apoptotic cells up to 2.1-fold and boosted caspase-3 activity up to 6.9-fold in colon adenoma cells. Roasting did not have a consistent impact.
Antioxidant gene switch
Pistachio fermentation liquids raised levels of CAT mRNA, which helps make an antioxidant enzyme, by 1.3-fold on average at 5% concentration. Levels of SOD2 and GSTP1 changed little, and GPx1 did not change.
What the authors conclude
“The results of the present study indicate that pistachios exhibit chemopreventive properties by inhibiting growth of adenoma cells, reducing levels of DNA damage and inducing CAT expression as well as apoptosis.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say pistachios show chemopreventive properties by inhibiting growth of adenoma cells, reducing DNA damage, and inducing CAT expression and apoptosis.
- They note that roasting had no consistent or diminishing impact on these effects, which they call an important finding since pistachios are often eaten roasted.
How it was done
Nuts like pistachios contain fiber and plant compounds that may help protect against colon cancer, but pistachios are usually eaten roasted. The authors wanted to see whether roasting changes any potential protective effects.
They roasted pistachios at three different temperatures and times, then digested and fermented them in the lab with gut bacteria from at least three healthy donors. The resulting fermentation liquids were tested on LT97 colon adenoma cells, which come from an early stage of colon cancer.
What it can’t tell you
- These are lab tests on colon adenoma cells, not studies in people. They cannot show what happens in the human body.
- The fermentation system is an artificial approximation of the real gut, so the results may not fully reflect real digestion.
- The cells used were already transformed adenoma cells, which may respond differently from normal colon cells.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
The paper
- Title
- Chemopreventive Potential of Raw and Roasted Pistachios Regarding Colon Carcinogenesis
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Animals and lab studies
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Glei M, Ludwig D, Lamberty J, Fischer S, Lorkowski S, Schlörmann W (2017). Chemopreventive Potential of Raw and Roasted Pistachios Regarding Colon Carcinogenesis. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu9121368Free full textPubMed 29258268DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error