Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Small Fruits (original) (raw)

Small fruits contain significant levels of micronutrients and phytochemicals with important biological properties. Consumption of small fruits has been associated with diverse health benefits, such as prevention of heart disease, hypertension, certain forms of cancer and other degenerative or age-related diseases (Manach et al 2004, Santos-Buelga and Scalbert 2000, Hummer and Barney, 2002). These beneficial health effects of small berry fruits could mostly be due to their particularly high concentrations of natural antioxidants (Wang et al., 1996), including phenolic compounds, ascorbic acid and carotenoids. Because of the high contents and wide diversity of health-promoting substances in berries, these fruits are often referred to as natural functional products (Bravo, 1998; Joeph et al., 2000). The chemical composition of berry fruits has previously been shown to be affected by the environmental conditions under which these plants are grown. However, accumulating data suggest that...