Health benefits of chokeberry
- Chokeberries are low in calories and fats but are rich source of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and dietary fiber.
- The oxygen radical absorbency capacity or ORAC (measurement of antioxidant strength of food items) demonstrates chokeberry with one of the highest values yet recorded -16,062 micro moles of Trolox Equivalents (TE) per 100 g.
- Black color berries consists significantly high amounts of phenolic flavonoid phyto-chemicals calledanthocyanins. Total anthocyanin content is 1480 mg per 100 g of fresh berries, and proanthocyanidin concentration is 664 mg per 100 g (Wu et al. 2004, 2006). Scientific studies have shown that consumption of berries on regular basis offers potential health benefits against cancer, aging and neurological diseases, inflammation, diabetes, and bacterial infections. (- By Dr. Paul Gross, 2007-07-09).
- Laboratory analyses of anthocyanins in chokeberries have identified the following individual chemicals:cyanidin-3-galactoside, quercetin, peonidin, delphinidin, petunidin, epicatechin, caffeic acid, pelargonidin and malvidin. These flavonoid poly-phenolic antioxidants have proven health benefits through scavenging dangerous oxygen free radicals from the body.
- Cancer research on anthocyanins where in black chokeberry preparations were first used to inhibit chemically induced cancer in the rat esophagus was found to reduce the severity of the disease by 30-60% and of the colon by up to 80%. Effective at both the initiation and promotion/progression stages of tumor development, these berries are a practical research tool and hold a promising therapeutic source, since they contain highest amount of anthocyanins among native North American berries [J. Agric. Food Chem. 50 (12): 3495–500].
- They are also rich in flavonoid anti-oxidants such as carotenes, luteins and zeaxanthins. Zeaxanthinhas photo-filtering effects on UV rays and thus protects eyes from age related macular disease in the elderly (ARMD).
- They are also good source of many antioxidant vitamins like vitamin-C, vitamin A, vitamin E, beta-carotene and folate and minerals like potassium, iron and manganese. 100 g of fresh berries provide about 35% of daily-recommended levels of vitamin C.
