Carcinogenic Activity of Processed Bracken Used as Human Food2

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Abstract
The carcinogenic activity of processed bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) used as a human food was studied in 4 groups of inbred strain ACI rats. Group I received for 4 months the pellets containing unprocessed bracken; Groups II and III were given for 4 months the pellets containing processed bracken treated with boiling water containing wood ash or sodium bicarbonate; Groups IV -1 and IV -2 received for 4 or 9 months, respectively, the pellets containing salt bracken; and Group IV-3 was given for 9 months the pellets of basal diet with NaCl added. A control group was fed a normal diet. In Group I, 10 of 12 rats surviving beyond 7 months after the start of feeding developed adenomas, adenocarcinomas, and sarcomas in the ileum, in decreasing order of frequency. In Groups II, III, and IV-1 tumor incidence was much lower than that in Group I, and most tumors were adenomas of the ileum. Rats in Group IV-2 did not develop the intestinal tumor. Although carcinogenic activity of bracken could be reduced remarkably by treatment with wood ash, sodium bicarbonate, or NaCl, weak carcinogenic activity was still retained in bracken thus prepared. The most preferred site of bracken-induced intestinal tumors was the terminal 3 cm of the ileum.

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