A fruity treatment is in the works for folks who suffer from inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease—conditions for which there are few options other than harsh drugs or surgery.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool are working closely with a British nutraceutical company on a product made from plantain extracts. The banana-like fruit is remarkably high in substances called non-starch polysaccharides, which have been shown in lab tests to bind with aberrant intestinal cells and keep them from attracting the bacteria that can cause inflammation, a hallmark of these bowel diseases.

Clinical trials begin this year, and the product could be on the market, both in Great Britain and the United States, within two years.