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Wed Oct 11, 12:27 PM ET
Scientists have found a new way to process an ancient berry that could yield a particularly heart-healthy juice, according to a new report.
The berry, from a plant called the sea buckthorn, has been used for centuries in Asia and Europe as a medicinal product. Rich in antioxidant vitamins, healthy fatty acids and other nutrients, the berry is currently used in a range of products, from skin creams to dietary supplements to edible oils.
The juice from the berry, however, tends to be poor-quality, according to the authors of the new study, led by Ranjith Arimboor of the Regional Research Laboratory in Trivandrum, India.
Reporting in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, the researchers describe a high-speed centrifuge process that allowed them to create a clear berry juice rich in vitamin C and a host of other antioxidants.
Antioxidants are nutrients that quash reactive oxygen species, substances that troll the body, damaging cells and potentially contributing to heart disease and other ills.
So the juice created in this study, according to the researchers, could be formulated into a "ready-to-drink health beverage" high in disease-fighting compounds.
What's more, Arimboor's team reports, the processing also yielded a fruit pulp "remarkably rich" in antioxidant carotenoids, vitamin E and plant sterols -- compounds that are structurally similar to cholesterol and have been found to lower blood cholesterol levels.
The findings, according to the researchers, suggest that their processing method could create sea buckthorn products that are particularly dense in heart-healthy nutrients.
SOURCE: Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, October 2006.
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