Eating a healthy diet has a positive impact on our health and well-being. And among the list of products that cannot be missed in healthy recipes are red fruits. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and cherries, among others, can curb natural aging and help in the prevention of cardiovascular and degenerative diseases.
This has been verified by the researcher of the University of Malaga, Lucía Cervantes, who has done her doctoral thesis on red fruits. And their conclusions can’t be more encouraging.
According to Cervantes, the beneficial qualities of red fruits are related to their high antioxidant activity.
Presence of antioxidants in red fruits
The researcher has analyzed antioxidant compounds in different red fruit genotypes and under various environmental conditions to determine their involvement in the healthy potential of this fruit family. It aims to help define its use in improvement programs aimed at obtaining new healthier varieties.
Cervantes has carried out several field tests on an experimental farm of the IFAPA (Institute of Agrarian and Fisheries Training, in Moguer), simulating the cultivation conditions of the production area of Huelva, which represents 95 percent of the production of red fruits in Spain and is one of the main producing areas in the world.
In these tests, organoleptic quality has been analyzed, which addresses aspects of the fruit related to the perception of the senses. He has also examined his nutraceutical or functional capacity, highlighting the benefits of antioxidant compounds for health.
“Historically, breeding programs didn’t usually include these types of characteristics, which include fruit size, aroma, or color, among others. However, their current economic impact, since they largely influence purchasing decisions, is an important reason to begin taking them into account, as we have done in this study,” explains Cervantes.
The environment and light influence quality
The environment is another factor with an impact on the quality of the red fruits and, according to Cervantes, directly influences the manifestation of the characters of the plant. Appearances such as incident light, temperature variation, or relative humidity can have a high impact on the composition of these fruits, he says.
Cervantes has found that at more or less light, strawberry fruits showed differences in their quality characters, including the level of antioxidants. This apparent variability in the antioxidant content contrasts with the desirable stability to use these parameters as characters in an improvement program, so we study these factors in depth, explains the doctor.
The study on how it affects the composition of fruit antioxidants during digestion, the process that determines its biological effect on health, has also been taken into account in this work.
For antioxidants to have their effect, they should be able to free themselves from the food matrix and be absorbed by the digestive system. Thus, they reach the blood and tissues and, once there, they do their beneficial action, Cervantes clarifies.