Antioxidant-rich berries and oxidative stress

It is well documentet that fruits and vegetables reduce risk of several diseases such as cancer, cardiovaslular disease, and cataract. In order to test the hypothesis that this benefiecial effect is due to antioxidants we have systematically assessed anti oxidants in a variety of dietary plants used worldwide including various fruits, berries, vegetables, cereals, nuts and pulses. Total concentration of antioxidants is assessed as the combined concentration of all electron-donating reductants. Our results demonstrates that there is more than a thousand fold difference between total antioxidants in various dietary plants. Plants tha t contain most antioxidants include members of several families, such as Rocaceae (Dog rose, sour cherry, blackberry, strawberry, raspberry), Empetraceae (crowberry), Ericacea (blueberry), Grossulariaceae (blackcurrant), Lacythidaceae (Brazil nut), Juglan daceae (walnut), Asteraceae (sunflower seed), Punicaceae (pomegranate) and Zingiberaceae (ginger). Thus, berries are the plant category containg most antioxidants. In the present project we will test the effect of antioxidant-rich berries on oxidative stress related gene expression. Furthermore, we aim at studying absorption of berry antioxidants and screening new variants og berries for their antioxidant capasities .