Elsevier

Nutrition

Volume 30, Issue 2, February 2014, Pages 134-144
Nutrition

Review
Edible berries: Bioactive components and their effect on human health

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2013.04.007Get rights and content

Abstract

The importance of food consumption in relation to human health has increased consumer attention in nutraceutical components and foods, especially fruits and vegetables. Berries are a rich source of a wide variety of non-nutritive, nutritive, and bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, phenolics, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, stilbenes, and tannins, as well as nutritive compounds such as sugars, essential oils, carotenoids, vitamins, and minerals. Bioactive compounds from berries have potent antioxidant, anticancer, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antineurodegenerative properties, both in vitro and in vivo. The following is a comprehensive and critical review on nutritional and non-nutritional bioactive compounds of berries including their absorption, metabolism, and biological activity in relation to their potential effect on human health.

Introduction

Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is recommended in dietary guidelines worldwide and the intake of fruits like berries which are rich in nutrients and phytochemicals can prevent various diseases and disorders. Most berries are delicious and powerful disease-fighting foods and make up the largest proportion of fruit that is consumed in the human diet [1]. Berry fruits are popularly consumed not only in fresh and frozen forms but also as processed and derived products, including dried and canned fruits, yogurts, beverages, jams, and jellies [2]. Among the colorful fruits, berries such as blackberry (Rubus species), black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis), blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), red raspberry (Rubus idaeus), and strawberry (Fragaria ananassa) are popularly used in the human diet either fresh or in processed forms. Additionally, there has been a growing trend in the use of berry extracts as ingredients in functional foods and dietary supplements, which may be combined with other colorful fruits, vegetables, and herbal extracts. Extracts of fruits from various blackberry, raspberry, and gooseberry cultivars act effectively as free radical inhibitors [3]. Berries provide significant health benefits because of their high levels of polyphenols, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fibers [4]. Polyphenols comprise a wide variety of compounds, divided into several classes like hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, flavonols, flavones, flavanols, flavanones, isoflavones, stilbenes, and lignans that occur in berry fruits. It has already been demonstrated that a wide diversity of phytochemical levels and antioxidant capacities exist within and across genera of small fruits [5], [6]. Furthermore, accumulating evidence suggests that genotype has a profound influence on concentrations of bioactive compounds in berries [7]. Berry extracts are widely consumed in botanical dietary supplement forms for their potential human health benefits. Many laboratory and animal studies have shown that berries have anticancer, antioxidant, and antiproliferative properties [2], [8]. Berry bioactive components impart anticancer effects through various complementary and overlapping mechanisms of action, including the induction of metabolizing enzymes, modulation of gene expression and their effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and subcellular signaling pathways [9]. Some berries, such as strawberries and black raspberries, have been identified as sources of phenolic compounds like gallic and ellagic acid, which have potential cancer chemopreventive activity [10]. These different bioactive phenolic compounds, including flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic acids, have received considerable interest in bearing possible relations to human health. This review focuses specifically on recent data, related to in vitro and in vivo studies that have been conducted with berries, emphasizing the role of phytochemicals. It is noteworthy that recent and significant advances have been made in understanding the bioavailability and metabolism of phenolic acids and flavonoids present in berries, which are discussed herein. Studies on the absorption, metabolism, tissue distribution, in vitro and in vivo biological effects, and mechanisms of action of berry phenolic acids and flavonoids are necessary to evaluate their effect on human health and diseases. In fact, the chemistry and biology of phenolic acids and flavonoids are important in the context of their biological effects exerted in the human body.

Section snippets

General chemical composition

Berries contain high levels of a diverse range of phytochemicals, most of which are phenolic molecules. These phytochemicals include a variety of beneficial compounds, such as essential minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, and dietary fibers. Berries are an important source of provitamin A, minerals, vitamin C, and B-complex vitamins. Berry fruits contain about 15% soluble solids (mainly sugars) and their high level of fructose makes them valuable for individuals with diabetes. The high dietary

Vitamins

Berries contain a large amount of vitamins A, C, and E, and the B complex vitamins. These vitamins help to boost the immune system and reduce inflammation. They also are considered antioxidants, which help to fight the effects of oxidative stress leading to chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Vitamins are highly concentrated in honeyberry and blackcurrants varieties, which are greater than the concentrations in strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries [15], [16]

Health benefits

From research labs worldwide there is growing evidence that berries are an important part of a healthy diet. Various phytochemicals from berries are thought to be antioxidants, which help to protect the body against various diseases and disorders and the damaging effects of free radicals, which results in chronic diseases that are associated with aging. Berries are the source of many naturally occurring antioxidants, such as various flavonoids, phenolic acids, and vitamins C and E. The high

Conclusion

This review demonstrates that a number of in vitro and in vivo studies, using cell cultures of animal and human cells, have suggested that bioactive compounds of berries positively show an effect on human health. The presented characteristics of various berry fruits point to vast differences in the type of their bioactive compounds; such differences are observed with regard to both the content and the qualitative composition of those compounds. The most significant health benefits are ascribed

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from Bio-Green 21 Program (No. PJ009074), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

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