Berries for Health, Fitness and Medical Purposes
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary.
The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors. Grapes are also a kind of berry.
Many berries, such as the tomato, are edible, but others in the same family, such as the fruits of the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and the fruits of the potato (Solanum tuberosum) are poisonous to humans. Some berries such as Capsicum have space rather than pulp around their seeds.
Berry colors are due to natural plant pigments, many of which are polyphenols such as the flavonoids, anthocyanins, and tannins localized mainly in berry skins and seeds.
Berry pigments are usually antioxidants in vitro and thus have oxygen radical absorbance capacity ("ORAC") that is high among plant foods. One cup of blueberries offers a smaller amount of vitamin C, minerals and phytochemicals for only 83 calories. The same amount of cranberries is similar, but with only 44 calories, 1 cup of raspberries offers vitamin C and potassium for 64 calories.
Together with good nutrient content, ORAC derived in the laboratory distinguishes several berries within a new category of functional foods called "superfruits". However, there is no physiological evidence established to date that berry polyphenols have actual antioxidant value within the human body and it remains invalid to claim that polyphenols have antioxidant health value on product labels in the United States and Europe.
Most berries are naturally sweet and require little effort to prepare. Just rinse them under water and serve for a nutritious snack or dessert.
Articles
| Pub. Date | Topic | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-10-03 | Blueberries Reduce Growth and Spread of Breast Cancer Tumors | Beckman Research Institute |
| 2011-04-11 | Strawberries May Slow Precancerous Growth in Esophagus | American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2011-02-14 | Eating Berries May Lower Risk of Parkinson's Disease | American Academy of Neurology |
| 2011-01-14 | Bioactive Compounds in Berries Can Reduce High Blood Pressure | University of East Anglia |
| 2010-11-03 | Black Raspberries May Prevent Colon Cancer | University of Illinois at Chicago |
| 2010-10-23 | Blueberries Help Fight Artery Hardening | United States Department of Agriculture - Research, Education and Economics |
