In The Public Eye - A Dozen Plant Antioxidants
You’ll Soon Know
Dr. Paul Gross
“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step” – a saying
sometimes used to nudge procrastinators off the start line.
Such a case exists now for food regulators confronted with
growing scientific evidence for the health benefits of plant
food chemicals, also called phytochemicals.
Many phytochemicals have significant promise as health agents.
Pigments, or the chemicals that give plants their varied
colours, have particularly strong health promoting qualities.
They have strong properties that reduce or prevent damaging
oxidative stress. This is why we call them antioxidants.
Serving as sentries guarding against oxidative stress,
antioxidant pigments may eventually be proved as important
nutrients for reducing the risk of 100 or more common human
diseases including:
o Cancers
o Diabetes
o Chronic inflammation
o Bacterial infections
o Neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease
A difficulty in public understanding of food antioxidants,
however, is that the chemical names and properties of dietary
antioxidants remain obscure, even though public media
increasingly use these terms in news reports about healthful
chemicals in plant foods.
Here, we begin a process of public education by presenting
phytochemicals with antioxidant functions derived from colorful
berries.
We choose berries for several reasons:
o They are rich in colors derived from pigments with
antioxidant roles not just for plants, but for humans and
animals that eat color-rich plants
o They are the best source among plant foods in Nature for
providing a mixture of dietary antioxidants from which
synergistic benefits for health occur
o In addition to having antioxidant phytochemicals, berries
contain multiple macro- and micronutrients, so they are an
appealing healthful plant food
o Berries are already popular due to their excellent tastes and
variety of uses in our diet
Caution: like the first step on a 1,000 mile journey, this is
just a beginning for introducing antioxidant phytochemicals. We
start with only 12, but in Nature, there are thousands more.
Over the next decades of food and medical research, there may
be only a few dozen phytochemical antioxidants discussed in
public news stories. This represents just the beginning of
further education about this important class of plant
chemicals.
Listed below are the plant pigments that give color, scent,
taste, and bitterness to berries and plant foods. We will
identify the berries that contain these pigments and some of
the diseases that preliminary research has shown can be
prevented or slowed by these healthful antioxidants.
Meet the Antioxidant “Families”
The number of phytochemicals with antioxidant properties is so
large (in the thousands) that it is helpful to organize them
into logical groups (or a super-family) with smaller
subfamilies.
Largest among them is the super-family of phenolics chemically
identified by 6-carbon rings with hydroxyl (OH-) group(s)
attached.
In descending order of size are the following subfamilies with
approximate numbers of individual chemicals bracketed. These
groupings are general and not intended to be definitive.
phenolics (8,000)
|
flavonoids (1,000)glycosides (400)tannins (500)
| | |
proanthocyanidins (600)cyanidins (100)gallic acid
|
anthocyanins (500)
1.Anthocyanins (antho-sigh-an-ins)
• There are numerous chemical members of the phenolic
super-family and flavonoid subfamily. Anthocyanins are commonly
found in all blue, purple, black and red berries. These plant
chemicals may reduce the risk of:
o Cardiovascular disease
o Memory deficits
o High blood cholesterol/triglycerides
o Cancer
o Chronic inflammation
2.Beta-carotene (behta-karo-teen)
• Beta-carotene is a primary carotenoid that most people know
as a chemical present in carrots. It is also found in the seeds
of dark berries and in the skin/flesh of orange-red colored
berries such as seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) and the
Chinese wolfberry (Lycium barbarum L.). Beta-carotene may
reduce the risk of:
o Cancer
o Cardiovascular disease
o High blood cholesterol/triglycerides
o Age-related macular degeneration
3. Cyanidin (sigh-an-id-in)
• Cyanidin is a member of the anthocyanin flavonoids. It is
also referred to as flavon-3-ol and is linked to numerous
glycosides. Cyanidin is present in red grapes, cranberries,
strawberries, tart cherries, red raspberries, blueberries and
elderberries. It may reduce the risk of:
o Cardiovascular disease
o Chronic inflammation
o Diabetes
o Cancer
4. Flavonoids (flav-on-oyd)
• This is the main subdivision of phenolic pigments responsible
for color and taste of many fruits. Flavonoids are present in
all dark berries and may reduce the risk of:
o Cardiovascular disease
o Chronic inflammation
o Diabetes,
o Cancer
o Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease
5. Gallic acid (gal-lik)
• Gallic acid is a benzoic acid member of plant tannins within
the phenolic super-family. It is found in red grapes,
cranberries, strawberries and may reduce the risk of:
o Coronary heart disease
o Chronic inflammation
o Cancer
6. Glycosides (glike-o-side)
• Glycosides are flavonoid molecules with sugar (glyco-)
components in the chemical structure. They are found in most
dark berries and are implicated in the potential health
benefits for all of the above-mentioned diseases.
7. Kaempferol (camp-fer-ol)
• Kaempferol is a member of the flavonoid family. It is present
in strawberries. Its benefits include the inhibition of
LDL-cholesterol oxidation, the promotion of plaque stability,
the improvement of vascular endothelial function, and the
decrease in tendency for thrombosis. Kaempferol has also been
shown to inhibit COX enzymes in vitro, which would modulate the
inflammatory process.
8. Phenolics (phenols, polyphenols, phenolic acids)
(feen-ol-iks)
• This is a super-family of several thousand chemicals that
give plants their pigmentation, taste, scent and astringency.
It is also the primary class of pigment antioxidants found in
dark North American and European berries. Phenolics potential
inhibit all major diseases.
9. Proanthocyanidins and procyanidins
(pro-antho-sigh-an-id-ins)
• This group is best recognized as the phenolics of grape seeds
and skins, and is sometimes called “oligomeric
proanthocyanidins” or OPC. These chemicals are also found in
pine needles and bark from which the commercial antioxidant
pycnogenol is extracted. Reports state that OPCs are a multiple
of vitamins C and E in antioxidant strength. Proanthocyanidins
and procyanidins have considerable laboratory evidence for
anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic (anti-clotting)
and anti-cholesterolemic effects. They may reduce the risk of:
o Atherosclerosis
o Gastric ulcers
o Colon cancer
o Diabetes
10. Quercetin (kwer-set-in)
• Quercetin is one of the most powerful individual flavonoids
yet studied. Quercetin is found in many berries, but especially
in red grapes, red raspberries, acerola cherries and
cranberries. It may reduce the risk of all major diseases
mentioned above.
11. Resveratrol (res-ver-a-trol)
• Resveratrol is a stilbene/phytoestrogen flavonoid. It is most
commonly associated with red grapes and dark wines and is also
present in deep blue/purple berries like blueberries,
bilberries and blackberries. It has beneficial health effects
related to cancer, infection, aging, and inflamation.
Resveratrol’s life-prolonging effects have been reported on
experiments with animals.
12.Tannins (tan-in)
• Tannins are astringent or bitter phenolics that bind and
precipate proteins. The term tannin refers to the source of
tannins used in tanning animal hides into leather. This
includes condensed tannins (proanthocyanidins) and gallic acid
(gallotannins) or ellagic acid (ellagitannins). Tannins are
joined by carbon-carbon bonds that supply electrons for
antioxidant functions that neutralize harmful free radicals.
Tannins are present in most dark berries but especially those
with sour or bitter taste notes like cranberries, bilberries
and black raspberries (also common in black or green tea, deep
red wines and pomegranates). Tannins demonstrate antimicrobial,
antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-aging properties. There is
also experimental evidence for effects against:
o Cardiovascular disease
o Inflammation
o Diabetes
o Urinary tract infections
The Phytochemical Database
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has created a database (reference below) that
allows in-depth study of the many phytochemicals studied and
catalogued to date. ARS describes that thousands of
phytochemicals have been isolated and characterized from
plants, including fruits and vegetables. The isolated
phytochemicals are grouped into distinctive classes by the
number and kind of constitutive atoms and the structure of the
basic skeleton. The database enables us to search
phytochemicals by using their names or an alphabetical list.
The data page of each phytochemical contains its chemical
structure, formula, and molecular weight.
The ARS database also lists phytochemicals that are a basis for
many commercial medications used today for treating diseases
like high blood pressure, pain, and asthma. For instance,
ephedrine, a phytochemical, is used in commercial
pharmaceutical preparations for relief of asthma and common
cold symptoms. In this database, biological activities of
phytochemicals are classified into several disease conditions
so that their medicinal uses can be quickly searched.
In the ARS database, representative chemical groups and
phytochemical classes are chosen and indexed for searching
phytochemicals easily by their chemical structures. This
classification is continually being updated for improved
searching. In turn, this type of effort helps educate the
public about the positive effects of phytochemicals.
Reading and References
* Nutrient Data Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, US
Department of Agriculture,
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/contact.html
* Phytochemical database of the USDA, Agricultural Research
Service, http://www.pl.barc.usda.gov/usda_chem/achem_home.cfm
* Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://www.wikipedia.com
Copyright 2006 Berry Health Inc.
About The Author: Dr. Paul Gross is a scientist and expert on
cardiovascular and brain physiology. A published researcher,
Gross recently completed a book on the Chinese wolfberry and
has begun another on antioxidant berries. Gross is founder of
Berry Health Inc, a developer of nutritional, berry-based
supplements. For more information, visit
http://www.berrywiseonline.com
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