ISHS Acta Horticulturae 744: I International Symposium on Human Health Effects of Fruits and Vegetables
DETERMINATION OF THE POLYPHENOL CONTENT OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DATABASE AND ESTIMATION OF THE POLYPHENOL INTAKE IN THE FRENCH DIET |
| Authors: | P. Brat, L. Mennen, S. Georgé, A. Scalbert, A. Bellamy, M.-J. Amiot-Carlin, L. Du Chaffaut |
| Keywords: | polyphenols, vitamin C, colorimetry, Folin-Ciocalteu, fruits, vegetables, database |
| Abstract:
According to epidemiological studies, fruits and vegetables are recognised to have protective effects against degenerative diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. These beneficial health effects are attributed mainly to diverse antioxidant compounds: vitamin C, carotenoids, sulphur compounds and polyphenols. However, it remains difficult to estimate the average daily intake of total polyphenols. In fact, polyphenols represent a wide variety of compounds belonging to different subclasses (flavonoids, phenolic acids, lignans, proanthocyanidins, etc.). Many of these compounds usually escape quantification, usually performed by HPLC/UV, because there is a lack of commercially available standards and because of the presence of unidentified compounds leading to an underestimation of the total polyphenol content. We proposed a rapid determination method for polyphenol quantification (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2005, 53, 1370-1373). This method was used to build a French database of the polyphenol content of fruits and vegetables. We estimated the French daily polyphenol intake based on food questionnaire (SU.VI.MAX). The highest polyphenol contents for vegetables were artichoke, parsley and Brussels sprouts (>250 mg of gallic acid equivalent (100 g fw)-1) and for fruits, strawberry, litchi and apricot (>180 mg of gallic acid equivalent (100 g fw)-1). Among fruits, the main source of polyphenols in the French diet is apple and for vegetables it is potato. | |
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