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Berries: Improving Human Health and Healthy Aging, and Promoting Quality Life—A Review

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Abstract

The importance of the diet in relation to human health has increased the interest of consumers on nutraceuticals rich foods, and especially on fruits and vegetables. Berries are rich sources of a wide variety of antioxidant phenolics; these phytochemicals include flavonoids, stilbenes, tannins, and phenolic acids. Reactive oxidant species and free radicals are produced in an extensive range of physiological processes. In addition to the antioxidant defenses produced in the body, there are exogenous sources supplied by the diet; this is the case of berry fruits, among others. The insufficiency of antioxidant defense mechanisms is associated to the pathology of chronic disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, and diabetes. Therefore, the enforcement of the latter mechanisms is of the utmost importance. The isolation and characterization of compounds that may delay the onset of aging is receiving intense research attention; some berry phenolics are being associated with this functional performance. Berry phenolics may also act as antimicrobials which may be of help in the control of the wild spectra of pathogens, in view of recent problems associated with antibiotic resistance. Most of the research works on the antioxidant activity of bioactive constituents of berries has been carried out using in vitro assays. In view of this, the human studies investigating the bioavailability and potential toxicity of phenolics are receiving more attention. Finally, we would like to emphasize the necessity of associating new plant breeding and genetic studies of berries with the expression and overexpression of compounds for human health and healthy aging.

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Abbreviations

ABTS:

2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid

C max :

The maximum plasma concentration

DCFH:

2′,7′-dichlorofluorescin

DPPH:

2,2-diphenylpicrylhydrazyl

FRAP:

Ferric-reducing/antioxidant power

HDL:

High-density lipoproteins

LDL:

Low-density lipoprotein

ORAC:

Oxygen radical absorbance capacity

PAC:

Plasma antioxidant capacity

ROS:

Reactive oxidant species

Tmax :

The time after administration of a drug when the maximum plasma concentration is reached

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support from CONACyT-Mexico to carry out this research. MLCC was supported by a scholarship from CONACyT-Mexico to pursue graduate studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Unidad Irapuato, Km. 9.6 Libr. Norte Carr. Irapuato-León, Apdo., Postal 629, Irapuato, Guanajuato, 36821, Mexico

    Octavio Paredes-López, Martha L. Cervantes-Ceja & Talía Hernández-Pérez

  2. PROPAC (Programa de Posgrado en Alimentos del Centro de la República), Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Querétaro, Querétaro, 76010, Mexico

    Martha L. Cervantes-Ceja

  3. Laboratorio de Farmacia, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosi, Mexico

    Mónica Vigna-Pérez

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  1. Octavio Paredes-López
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  2. Martha L. Cervantes-Ceja
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  3. Mónica Vigna-Pérez
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  4. Talía Hernández-Pérez
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Correspondence to Talía Hernández-Pérez.

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Paredes-López, O., Cervantes-Ceja, M.L., Vigna-Pérez, M. et al. Berries: Improving Human Health and Healthy Aging, and Promoting Quality Life—A Review. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 65, 299–308 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-010-0177-1

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