Wild Blueberries Take Top Spot in New Antioxidant Rese...( Cornell University Food Scienti...),Health

Cornell University Food Scientists Expand Testing Using Cellular

Antioxidant Activity Assay

PORTLAND, Maine, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Wild Blueberry antioxidant research advanced today with the release of results from a new study showing Wild Blueberries outperformed 2 dozen other commonly consumed fruits like apples, bananas, red grapes and strawberries in an expanded test using the Cellular Antioxidant Activity (CAA) assay. New research published in the current issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (Journal Agricultural and Food Chemistry 56 (18): 8418-8426, 2008) shows that Wild Blueberries have the highest cellular antioxidant activity of the 25 fruits tested, as well as the highest total phenolic content and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Lead scientist Rui Hai Liu, Ph.D. used the cellular antioxidant activity (CAA) assay -- a new assay developed by the Cornell University Department of Food Science to determine antioxidant activity of antioxidants, foods, and dietary supplements.

According to Dr. Liu, the CAA assay was developed to investigate how antioxidant compounds found in foods react inside cells, using human liver cancer cells as the testing model. The CAA assay takes antioxidant measurement to a new level moving beyond test tube assays to bioactivity inside cells. The CAA assay is a more biologically relevant method than the chemistry antioxidant activity assays as it accounts for uptake, metabolism, distribution and activity of antioxidant compounds within cells versus solely looking at antioxidant value. The CAA assay is the first movement in the antioxidant field away from test tube chemistry assays and toward cell-based antioxidant activity assay.

The recently published study shows the cellular antioxidant activity of 25 common fruits, an expansion from earlier CAA testing done in 2007. (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2007; 55 (22), 8896-8907). "In expa
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