Back in the late 1970s, biochemist Bill E. Cham, PhD, ran across a piece of Australian backcountry folklore.
It seemed farmers had learned a way of successfully treating eye, nose and skin cancers in their cattle from the native Aborigines. They made a poultice from the fruits of a weed called Devil's Apple (Solanum linnaeanum), applied it, and that was that. No more cancers.
Intrigued by the story, Cham spent the next 10 years investigating the properties of the fruit, which is part of the nightshade family (Solanaceae) that includes eggplant, potatoes and tomatoes. He eventually isolated the active agent—solasodine rhamnosyl glycosides (SRGs)—which was most easily obtained and extracted from eggplant.
In the process, Cham discovered a new class of antineoplastics (a substance that prevents or inhibits the formation of tumors). He first published his research in 1987 and focused on developing a standardized mixture of these SRGs that he patented as BEC, eventually creating a topical cream for non-melanoma skin
