Berries Pack a Powerful Punch

Berries Pack a Powerful Punch
by Heather Granato

While the botanical definition of a berry would have consumers looking for avocados and tomatoes, the layperson’s definition generally includes a range of small, fleshy fruits such as blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc. While the use of wild berries dates back to prehistoric times, it wasn’t until the midthirteenth century when cultivation of berries began in earnest. When colonists arrived on the shores of North America, they found Native Americans using and eating such indigenous berries as lowbush (wild) blueberries and strawberries.

Today, berries are a welcome sight in the summer in the produce department, but are increasingly being incorporated into foods and even dietary supplements. Their range of flavonoid compounds, primarily anthocyanins, offer antioxidant benefits and may help boost general health and fight off degenerative health conditions.

Suppliers to the nutraceutical and functional food marketplace said the rate of interest in using berries has increased dramatically in the last few years. “There has been a marked increase in demand for our fruit and vegetable ingredients,” said Kit Kats, technical sales for FutureCeuticals. “Companies all over the world are making greater efforts to incorporate more nutrition into their existing product lines.”

Scott Rosenbush, business manager of botanicals with P.L.Thomas, agreed with Kats’ assessment. “Interest has grown quickly and as companies are looking for new uses of traditional products—such as fruit extracts—this provides opportunities. It’s easier to introduce these products for dietary supplements as they are extracts of foods and not subject to new dietary ingredient requirements. Also, we’re seeing significant attention from the food industry; these products are positioned as healthy ingredients with GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status.”

Berries, on their own, have been studied for their ability to help prevent some degenerative health conditions. In the heart health arena, men who consumed flavonoid-rich cranberry juice for two weeks showed significantly decreased levels of oxidized LDL (low-density lipoprotein) in plasma, as well as an increase in antioxidant capacity.¹ In vitro work further showed cranberry could not only prevent LDL oxidation, suppressing it in a dose-dependent manner, but also enhance clearance of excessive plasma cholesterol.² Researchers at the University of Helsinki found phenolics from raspberry, bilberry, lingonberry and black currant also had the ability to protect against lipid oxidation and to increase antioxidant capacity in plasma.³ And a review from the University of Illinois noted strawberries contain potent antioxidant compounds that may help lower the risk of cardiovascular events, reduce inflammation and benefit the brain.⁴

In the brain arena, a great deal of attention has focused on blueberries, which have been shown to prevent age-related declines in temporal processing speed,⁵ protect the brain against stroke-induced damage,⁶ and protect the hippocampus from induced brain injury.⁷ In fact, Tufts University researchers found administering blueberries to aged rats enhanced memory function to the level of younger rats, and decreased the levels of oxidative stress protein markers.⁸

Berries have also shown the ability to target infections, even beyond the maxim of administering cranberry juice to avoid urinary tract infections—although cranberry has been shown to prevent recurrent UTIs.⁹ Cranberry has also been shown to suppress Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection¹⁰ and inhibit adhesion of the influenza virus.¹¹ Cranberry was also found in an in vitro study to affect Listeria bacterial strains, while the same study showed raspberry and cloudberry worked to inhibit both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.¹² And a number of individual berry extracts—raspberry, strawberry, cranberry,  elderberry, blueberry and bilberry—as well as a multi-berry blend (OptiBerry® from InterHealth Nutraceuticals)—were found to significantly inhibit the growth of H. pylori with or without clarithromycin.¹³

Berries may also work both individually and synergistically to prevent carcinogenesis. Researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus, found wild blueberry and a berry mix (OptiBerry) worked in vivo to prevent angiogenesis by inhibiting the infiltration of macrophages in hemangioma.¹⁴ Cranberry compounds have been shown to inhibit carcinogenesis in breast¹⁵ and prostate¹⁶ cell cancer lines. Bilberry and chokeberry extracts were found to work in vitro to prevent colon carcinogenesis,¹⁷ while raspberry and blueberry extracts inhibited mutagenesis in breast and cervical cancer cell lines.¹⁸

Many of these health benefits have been attributed to the berries’ antioxidant compounds; however, there is still some question as to the best way to quantify the active constituents. Many companies make use of the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) method of analysis.

“The ORAC method has been adopted by the supplement industry to compare the phytonutrient levels of ingredients to levels found in fruits and vegetables,” said Ellen Schutt, vice president of marketing and brand strategies for RFI Ingredients. “If a customer puts a certain amount of OxyPhyte® grape skin extract in a supplement, the customer can then claim ‘The antioxidant equivalent of X servings of fruits and vegetables.’ This gives consumers an easily-understood comparison for determining what to buy.”

However, ORAC is certainly not the only antioxidant game in town. Mitchell May, chief executive officer at The Synergy Co., suggests focusing on whole extracts rather than marker compounds. “Everyone is enamored of ORAC, but the research indicates those results are not necessarily biologically applicable,” he said. “ORAC is just one piece of an understanding and there are many other compounds that work synergistically. That is why the research is based on eating whole fruits.”

Rosenbush also noted there is a wide range of testing methods used to determine antioxidant power. “There is no consensus at this point as to which method is best or most appropriate for a certain product,” he said. “There is no scientific agreement as to which in vitro method approximates what happens in the body, so all of the testing methods have some limitations.”

Product Applications

While the measurement issue may be under discussion, there is no question that the increasing quantity of research is driving product development to meet consumer demand. Jeff Van Drunen, president of Van Drunen Farms, said berries and berry extracts are being incorporated into a host of new products ranging from smoothies and fruit chews to bottled water enhancers and foods specially designed to help meet the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 5-to-9 a day initiative. He noted mixed berry extracts tend to be more popular in dietary supplement and nutraceutical applications, while food applications make use of straight freeze-dried or infused fruit pieces.

The most oft-cited concern in formulation when working with the extracts is taste masking. “The biggest challenge using berry extracts is to mask the more astringent flavor normally associated with the extract,” Van Drunen said. “Fortunately, the concentration of the extract is quite high, so usage levels are low.”

Ron Martin, vice president of sales and marketing with Polyphenolics, agreed with the assessment. “Our grape extracts as well as other berry extracts have a bitter, astringent taste that limits the level of use or presents a challenge to make the products taste good when using levels as high as 100 mg/serving,” he said.

Fiber content in whole berry products or powders can also be an issue, said Chris Paulk, chief executive officer of Muscadine Products Corp. “Muscadines are America’s native grape, and are a very rich source of polyphenols,” he said. “They are also high in dietary fiber, and the 100-percent fruit powders don’t dissolve into solution as formulators might like. To meet the demand, we are developing standardized extracts that would be soluble.”

Powders and extracts also have different levels of active constituents. “Pay attention to whether you are adding a straight powder versus an extract,” Schutt advised. “A blueberry or strawberry powder is not standardized, so vitamin, mineral or phytonutrient content can vary from lot to lot. Extracts are standardized to a particular compound, usually polyphenols, so there is a guarantee that you will have that level from product to product.”

Formulators also must determine whether they want to use whole berries, powders or extracts. “Whole berries, berry powders and juice from berries are the most effective for humans,” May said. “In fact, there is evidence that single extracted compounds from berries are not as effective as whole berry or juice offerings. In addition, I think it is essential to look for certified organic berry products, as nonorganic berries are some of the most pesticided agricultural products.”

Finally, there appears to be a move toward synergistic blends of berries. For example, InterHealth offers the patent-pending multi-berry extract, OptiBerry, which Troxel said offers unique benefits to consumers. “We worked to find which combination of berry extracts would show the most synergism, and standardized to deliver the benefits,” he said. “Our research and development team looked at the bioavailability and did research on the individual compounds and mixtures to find the synergy.”

Charlene Lee, director of marketing and sales with Cyvex Nutrition, added Cyvex is also focused on compounding the power of berries; the company’s BerryVin™ combines strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and cranberries plus grape and pomegranate extracts. “The berry components found in BerryVin have synergistic attributes in this innovative blend,” she said. “We know this product type is succeeding in the marketplace.”

At the end of the day, many companies will find the best results from taking time in advance to outline the goals of the finished product. “Formulators should first identify what they want to accomplish by adding a berry ingredient,”Van Drunen suggested. “Do they want a certain antioxidant level based on ORAC? Do they want whole fruit equivalent values based on the USDA initiative? Do they want particular polyphenols or phytochemicals based on their health benefits? If a final product goal is known, finding the right berry product for the application is relatively simple.”

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