Researchers create healthier cigarette

U.S. researchers found lycopene and grape seed extract drastically reduced the amount of cancer-causing free radicals produced in cigarettes. Study co-author Dr. Boris Dzilkovski and Kolski-Andreaco at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said from a healthcare perspective, the best cigarette is no cigarette, but a less toxic cigarette may be helpful for the millions of people a year who try to quit smoking. "The implications of this technique can help reduce the hazardous effects of tobacco smoke because free radicals are a major group of carcinogens," Dzilkovski said. Using the natural antioxidant extracts -- lycopene, the bright red pigment and phytochemical found in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetable and grape seed extract -- in cigarette filters, drastically reduced the amount of cancer-causing free radicals passing through the filter. "Practically, this research could lead to an alternative type of cigarette filter with a free radical scavenging additive," Kolski-Andreaco said. "It could lead to a less harmful cigarette." The findings were published in the Journal of Visualized Experiments, a video journal. It is at: http://www.jove.com/video/3406/a-protocol-for-detecting-and-scavenging-gas-phase-free-radicals-in-mainstream-cigarette-smoke.