Head of GK Foods, Erwin Burton (second left), signs a memorandum of understanding with Northern Caribbean University, represented by Beverley Cameron (second right), vice-president of academic affairs. At right is Anthony Lawrence of GK Foods. Others witnessing the occasion are (from left) Danieto Murray, vice-president, finance and industries; Al Powell, chief executive officer at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority; Paul Giles, dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences; and Patrick Lawrence, senior adviser in the Ministry of Agriculture. - Photo by Richard Bryan

MANDEVILLE, Manchester:

On the heels of an announcement earlier this week of a hugely historic US million-dollar software partnership with internationally based Siemens Product Lifecycle Management to boost its engineering department, Northern Caribbean University (NCU) inked another big partnership, this time with local business conglomerate GraceKennedy.

Through its GK Foods & Services arm, GraceKennedy has decided to partner with NCU, through a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU), to follow up on positive findings unearthed from recent research conducted at the university on the cancer-fighting properties of sorrel.

Far-reaching implications

The monetary value of the MOU was not disclosed, nor were speci-fic terms in relation to length of the contract, but Patrick Smith, corporate communications director at NCU, told The Gleaner the implications were more far-reaching than any focus on the money involved at this time.

"The news is that the university is involved with research that is going to affect the agricultural industry and other fields in many ways," he said.

Erwin Burton, head of GK Foods & Services, said the partnership was the kind that was needed to expand the country's developmental horizons.

"Industry and science have come together with this deal, and this is a link that we have not made as effective in the past," he said.

"We hope this will be the beginning of how we move forward."

Senior adviser to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Patrick Lawrence, who spoke on behalf of Minister Tufton, said the partnership could help to stimulate the production of more sorrel locally and for export purposes, and quoted data which showed that the product, when exported, could attract as much as US$5 per kilogram in the United Kingdom.

Dr Paul Giles, who heads the research team that includes Dr J. Bailey-Penrod and Patrice Williams-Gordon, said his group sought to build on established research which showed that sorrel, which existed in Malaysia and India, had shown medicinal purposes.

Treatment of allergies

Extracts from the plant, Giles disclosed, helped in the treatment of individual allergies, and acted as laxatives and diuretics, as well as provided a soothing effect on the skin.

From the NCU research, he said, there were tangible signs that sorrel could influence the treatment of dreaded cancer cells.

"Our research has proven that sorrel - its seeds and extract - contain vita chemicals, antioxidants and flavonoids," said Giles, dean of the university's College of Natural and Applied Sciences.

According to Giles, the research would focus on lung and laryngeal cancers and on how the substances found in sorrel impact cancer cells. How organs reacted in turn would also be important to the study, which would allow for proper dosages of the substances to be arrived at.