Video: Banana Brown Spots Could Hold Key to Preventing Melanoma

By ACSH Staff — Feb 16, 2016
Those brownish black spots on fully ripe bananas may unlock a faster diagnosis of skin cancer in humans, boosting survival chances.

Those brownish black spots on fully ripe bananas may unlock a faster diagnosis of skin cancer in humans, boosting survival chances.

When bananas ripen, their skin is covered in small, round black spots caused by an enzyme known as tyrosinase; the same enzyme present in human skin, and in much larger quantities in those who have developed skin cancer.