Strawberry consumption improves plasma antioxidant status and erythrocyte resistance to oxidative haemolysis in humans

• Published in: Food chemistry 2011-09, Vol.128 (1), p.180-186
• Main Authors: Tulipani, Sara, Alvarez-Suarez, Josè M., Busco, Franco, Bompadre, Stefano, Quiles, Josè L., Mezzetti, Bruno, Battino, Maurizio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antihaemolytic effects; Biological and medical sciences; Food industries; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Plasma total antioxidant capacity; Strawberry; Vitamin C
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.03.025

► Strawberry is an antioxidant-rich fruit. ► Fasting plasma TAC and vitamin C increase during 16-day strawberry consumption. ► Serum urate does not change during 16-day strawberry consumption. ► Erythrocyte resistance to haemolysis increases during 16-day strawberry consumption. ► Consumption of strawberries may improve the plasma and cellular antioxidant status. Significant increases in the plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) have already been reported after acute intake of strawberries. In addition, antihaemolitic effects of strawberry extracts have been recently demonstrated in vitro, revealing that part of the antioxidant properties of strawberry bioactive compounds could lie in their localisation within cell membranes. However, there is a lack of research evidence from in vivo protracted strawberry consumption studies. We carried out a 16-day pilot study where 12 healthy subjects ingested 500g of antioxidants-rich strawberries daily, and we evaluated the potential effects of fruit consumption on biomarkers of plasma and cellular antioxidant status. A significant increase in fasting plasma TAC and in serum vitamin C concentrations were progressively observed during the period of strawberry supplementation. An enhanced resistance to haemolysis was also observed in both AAPH-treated and untreated erythrocytes, collected during and after the period of strawberry consumption. The results obtained in this work suggest that regular consumption of antioxidant-rich strawberries may exert an improvement on the plasma antioxidant status and an increase on the antihaemolitic defenses of human erythrocytes.