The Horticulture Department is initiating a study to check if a natural compound found in kinnow can be used for treating cancer patients and help in lowering cholesterol in the blood. The department has approached the Punjab Farmers Commission to either have a collaboration with the PGI or some other national-level institute to examine and study if limonene available in kinnow is useful for treating patients. The volume of limonene is of the same amount as vitamin C in the fruit. The plan to conduct the study has come from Gurkanwal Singh, deputy director horticulture-cum nodal officer for citrus plantation, Punjab. He has based his plan on the findings of the US-based Agriculture Research Service. Gurkanwal has contacted researcher Gary D. Manners, who is based in California, in this regard. Manners and his team have demonstrated that humans can readily get limonene from citrus each time they consume the fruit. However, if the study proves that limonene is useful for treating the patients, it may be a boon for kinnow growers. Limonene can be extracted from peels, seeds and other processing leftovers. Presently, these leftovers, called citrus molasses, are sold as a low-cost ingredient. However, technology permits that these chemicals can be extracted from citrus molasses and used to fortify foods or beverages. However, Manners has suggested to Gurkanwal Singh that until tests on humans are not conducted, limonene cannot be certified as an "anti-cancer' agent.