Antioxidants in Fruit
Humans have always known that plants are good sources of vitamins and minerals. And though the reasons as to why these are good have not been studied yet, for centuries humans have banked on fruits and vegetables to keep them healthy. When science allowed humans to break down the properties of these plants, they concluded that a lot of their components are truly essential to health. Science also gave humans the answer as to why aging occurs: reactive oxygen species. These reactive oxygen species invade cells and tissues to replace their natural components and destroy them. The damage causes the cells to shrink and dry up. Natural enzymes in the body could not repair all the damage; this results in a build-up of dead cells inside the body. The enzymes need back-up; this comes in the form of antioxidants in fruits.
Scientists found that fruits are rich in phenols such as cinnamic acid and flavonoids as well as vitamins, which are good scavengers of reactive oxygen species. Vitamin C is another of the many good antioxidants in fruit. Because these phenols and vitamins react with the reactive oxygen species, the latter could not invade the cells to kill them.
According to studies, fruits rich in color are rich in antioxidants. The purple, blue, and red fruits have the most abundant antioxidant content of all. This means that grapes, cranberries, blackberries, apples, cherries, and strawberries top the list when it comes to antioxidants in fruit. One cup of wild blueberries contains 13,247 antioxidants while cultivated blueberries only have 9,019. Apples, on the other hand, contain approximately 5,000. An antioxidant called reservatrol found in berries and grapes was also determined to affect genes that control aging.
Orange and yellow fruits have abundant antioxidants but have lesser content than darker-colored groups. Mangoes, peaches, and oranges have almost 2,000 antioxidants while pineapples and tangerines have about 1,000 only.
Because not all people have access to fresh fruits, preserved ones are sold, either frozen or dried. Nevertheless, the difference in the level of antioxidants in fruit that is preserved and the fresh ones isn’t really high. Also, the contents are still quite higher for preserved fruits than from other sources. Therefore, these should not be written off. For example, one-half cup of raisins contains almost 2,500 antioxidants while dates have around 3,500. Prunes have the most content with more than 7,000 antioxidants per half-cup serving. Still, fresh fruits are preferable. Juices from fruits, like their dried counterparts, are also rich in vitamins and antioxidants.
Scientist also found out that the antioxidant content in some of these fruits increase when they are steamed or cooked. One excellent example is the steamed blueberries.
To be able to get the most benefit from these antioxidants in fruit, it is best to go for variety by choosing fruits from the less colorful to the darkest groups. But since the latter group contains more of the components that take away the reactive oxygen species, then the fruits that belong to it should be consumed more often in the daily diet.
