Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits

By Jeanelle Boyer. Nutrix Journal, 2004

1,513 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Evidence suggests that a diet high in fruits and vegetables may decrease the risk of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, and phytochemicals including phenolics, flavonoids and carotenoids from fruits and vegetables may play a key role in reducing chronic disease risk. Apples are a widely consumed, rich source of phytochemicals, and epidemiological studies have linked the consumption of apples with reduced risk of some cancers, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and diabetes. In the laboratory, apples have been found to have very strong antioxidant activity, inhibit cancer cell proliferation, decrease lipid oxidation, and lower cholesterol. Apples contain a variety of phytochemicals, including quercetin, catechin, phloridzin and chlorogenic acid, all of which are strong antioxidants. The phytochemical composition of apples varies greatly between different varieties of apples, and there are also small changes in phytochemicals during the maturation and ripening of the fruit. Storage has little to no effect on apple phytochemicals, but processing can greatly affect apple phytochemicals. While extensive research exists, a literature review of the health benefits of apples and their phytochemicals has not been compiled to summarize this work. The purpose of this paper is to review the most recent literature regarding the health benefits of apples and their phytochemicals, phytochemical bioavailability and antioxidant behavior, and the effects of variety, ripening, storage and processing on apple phytochemicals.

Subfields: Biochemistry, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/56dbd9bf649b8960ae7f5f786d375c7633540ca0

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Citations in the corpus

Impact of Dietary Polyphenols on Carbohydrate Metabolism (2010, neutral): “concentrations of isoflavonoids [17]; tea, mainly for condensed tannins, in particular epigallocatecin gallate [18]; coffee, for phenolic acid content [19]; grape especially for the presence of resveratrol [20]; apple for rich flavonoid content [21] and several herbs often possessing highly distinct”
An R2R3 MYB transcription factor associated with regulation of the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway in Rosaceae (2010, positive): “Recently, research on anthocyanins has intensified because of their potential benefits to human health, including protection against cancer, inflammation, coronary heart diseases and other age-related diseases [6-11].”
Estimation and mapping of nitrogen content in apple trees at leaf and canopy levels using hyperspectral imaging (2019, neutral): “Owing to its delicious flavor and abundant health benefits, apple is widely cultivated and consumed worldwide (Boyer and Liu 2004).”
Red colouration in apple fruit is due to the activity of the MYB transcription factor, MdMYB10 (2007, positive): “Usually restricted to the skin of apples, these pigments provide essential cultivar differentiation for consumers and are implicated in the health attributes of apple fruit (Boyer and Liu, 2004).”