Symposium Introduction pubs.acs.org/JAFC
Berries and Human Health: Research Highlights from the Fifth Biennial Berry Health Benefits Symposium ABSTRACT: The fifth biennial Berry Health Benefits Symposium showcased recent research supporting the positive effects of berry consumption on human health and disease. Remarkably, the vast majority of oral papers covered data accumulated from in vivo studies, which underscores how berry health research has advanced since the inception of this symposium in 2005. Similar to the past, research presented at this meeting was primarily focused on the major commercially cultivated berries in North America, namely, blackberry, blueberry, black raspberry, cranberry, red raspberry, and strawberry. Despite this, on the basis of similar compositional chemistry, it is possible that similar biological effects may also be extended to other small soft-fleshed “berry-type” fruits popular in other parts of the world including Europe, Asia, and South America. Overall, this symposium continues to add to the growing body of data supporting the positive impact of berry fruit consumption on human health promotion and disease risk reduction.
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Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA; session 4, Berries and Metabolism, chaired by Ronald Prior from the Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR; session 5, Berries and Heart Health, chaired by Britt Burton-Freeman from the Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology, Bedford Park, IL; and session 6, Berries and Gut Health/Gut Microflora, chaired by Jess Reed, from the Department of Animal Sciences, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, WI. In addition, there was a poster session chaired by Luke Howard from the Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR. It is relevant to note that there have been two recent symposia, both held in 2011 and with accompanying publication of clusters of papers in this journal,4,5 that encompassed similar thematic areas with overlapping research findings, issues, challenges, and opportunities as discussed at the 2013 BHBS. The first symposium, titled Food Bioactives, was organized to coincide with the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry at the American Chemical Society meeting in Denver, CO.4 The second symposium was the Fifth International Conference of Polyphenols and Health held in Sitges (Spain).5 Therefore, given the topical nature and past and recent extensive scientific discussion of this area of research,1−5 only a brief overview of each session and their individual contributed oral papers at the 2013 BHBS meeting is being presented below. Session 1, Berry Compositional Chemistry and Biological Effects. Current scientific data on the various constituents, namely, macronutrients, micronutrients, and phytochemicals, found in each of these berry fruits have been well established. However, research in the past decade has led to our increased understanding of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of the various berry substances, and, importantly, the biological effects exerted in vivo and their underlying mechanisms of actions when berry fruits are consumed. Consequently, this “in vivo theme” was common in all of the sessions of the symposium. The first presentation,
he Berry Health Benefits Symposium (BHBS) is a biennial meeting that was initiated in 2005 and met for the fifth time at the Embassy Suites in Charlotte, Concord (NC, United States) from June 18 to 20, 2013 (see Web site http://www.berryhealth.org). Similar to the past, the current meeting was organized for scientists worldwide to present recent research findings related to berries, and the cluster of papers published here is taken from both oral and poster presentations at the meeting.1−3 Although there are many “berry-type” fruits available and consumed worldwide, the presentations at this conference were primarily focused on research conducted on the major berry fruits that are commercially cultivated in North America, namely, blackberry, blueberry, black raspberry, cranberry, red raspberry, and strawberry. Similar to the past meetings, there was continued financial support for the 2013 BHBS with the host sponsors being the National Berry Crop Initiative (based in the United States), California Strawberry Commission, Driscoll’s, Dole, Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission, Washington Red Raspberry Commission, Wild Blueberry Association of North America, and U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. Other sponsors included the Cranberry Institute, SunBelle, Naturipe Farms, Linus Pauling Institute of Oregon State University, Ocean Spray, California Giant Berry Farms, Nourse, Plant and Food Research (Rangahau Ahumara Kai), North American Raspberry and Blackberry Association, North American Strawberry Growers Association, North Carolina Research Campus, Chilean Blueberry Committee, North Carolina Blueberry Council, North Carolina Strawberries, Florida Strawberry Growers Association, Cott, Thomas Creek Farms, and Cabarrus County, North Carolina. Thematic areas served to organize the invited oral papers into six individual sessions, each with a chair who presented “current research overview, advances and challenges” in that area as follows: session 1, Berry Compositional Chemistry and Biological Effects, chaired by Navindra Seeram from the College of Pharmacy, The University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI; session 2, Berries and Cancer, chaired by Gary Stoner, from the Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI; session 3, Berries and Brain Aging, chaired by Barbara Shukitt-Hale from the USDA-ARS Human Nutrition © XXXX American Chemical Society
Special Issue: 2013 Berry Health Benefits Symposium Received: September 27, 2013
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by Alan Crozier from the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, showed data obtained from a combination of animal and human studies on the bioavailability and biological effects of berry phenolics. Similarly, Wilhelmina Kalt, from Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, presented data on the bioavailability and absorption of anthocyanins, particularly in animal tissues, after long-term blueberry intake. Finally, Maurizio Battino from the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy, presented recent data on the effects of a one-month strawberry supplementation study on markers of cardiovascular risk and oxidative stress in human subjects. Session 2, Berries and Cancer. The cancer chemopreventive effects of bioactive food components, including phenolic compounds found in berry fruits, continues to attract significant research and public attention.4,5 In this session, Laura Kresty from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, presented data on the ability of a standardized proanthocyanidin-rich cranberry extract to prevent esophageal adenocarcinoma, and the underlying mechanisms of activity, in a clinically relevant rodent model. Christine Sardo from the University of Arizona presented data from two human clinical studies. The first evaluated the effects of a freeze-dried black raspberry powder on postprandial measures of inflammation in overweight and obese male adults. The second evaluated pooled analyses of data obtained from two large phase II, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials, to elucidate the role of plant-based foodstuffs on the recurrence of colorectal adenomas. Ramesh Gupta from the University of Louisville focused his talk on “berry colored compounds”, namely, anthocyanins, from blueberries for the prevention and treatment of different forms of cancers including lung, breast, and cervical cancers. Session 3, Berries and Aging. With a growing aging population in the United States and other developed countries, and a concomitant increase in age-related and neurodegenerative diseases, this research area on food bioactives, especially berries, is of significant scientific and public interest. Barbara Shukitt-Hale from the USDA-ARS Jean Mayer Center for Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA, presented data from an ongoing three month intervention study to evaluate the effects of a freeze-dried blueberry powder, compared to a placebo, on cognition and motor function in healthy older adults (60−75 years of age). This human study is building on previous published data showing that blueberry supplementation improves motor and cognitive function in rodent models of aging. Elizabeth Devore from Brigham and Children’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, presented data from the Nurses’ Health study whose participants were administered food frequency questionnaires every four years (starting in 1980), and cognitive function in 16010 participants, aged ca. 70 years and older, were measured at two-year intervals (starting in 1995−2001). Impressively, this study showed that long-term berry and flavonoid intake led to slower rates of cognitive decline in older adults. Robert Krikorian from the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center, Cincinnati, OH, discussed initial findings from a human clinical study with berry fruit supplementation in the context of age-related memory decline. These data suggested that moderate-term berry fruit supplementation can improve cognitive performance and enhance cerebral function in humans. Session 4, Berries and Metabolism. Ronald Prior from the Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, presented data showing that, irrespective of
the berry source, in this case, cranberry, blueberry, and black raspberry, common phenolic acids and their conjugates are excreted in the urine of rats. Dragan Milenkovic from the National Institute for Agricultural Research, France, presented data showing the inhibition of plaque development by anthocyanins (from bilberries) in an apolipoprotein-E deficient atherosclerosis mouse model. Finally, Rosalia Simmen from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, discussed data suggesting that early nutritional exposure of a freeze-dried blueberry powder to pregnant and lactating dams results in favorable breast cancer outcomes in their female offsprings in a transgenic mouse model of human breast cancer. Session 5, Berries and Heart Health. Britt BurtonFreeman from the Institute for Food Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology, Bedford Park, IL, presented data discussing the positive effects of strawberry consumption on risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease in human subjects. In addition, this discussion called for further investigation of the effects of berry consumption on different physiological states, in particular the postprandial state, to minimize imbalances in stress, which ultimately lead to various diseases. Ana Rodriguez-Mateos from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, presented data from three separate randomized, controlled, double-blind, crossover human intervention trials showing that blueberry polyphenol intake improves endothelial function in healthy men. Finally, Howard Sesso from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, presented a review of epidemiological data obtained from large cohort studies including the Women’s Health Study, the Nurse’s Health Study, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study indicating the positive effects of berry consumption on cardiovascular disease outcomes. This discussion raised the need for consideration of complementary data obtained from basic science, clinical, and epidemiologic studies to maximize statistical power and identify mechanistically relevant scientific aims to increase our insights on the role of berries on cardiovascular disease prevention. Session 6, Berries and Gut Health/Gut Microbiota. This area of research continues to evolve at a rapid pace as it is now well-known that polyphenol gut microbiota metabolites exert biological effects that extend beyond the native compounds alone (see ref 5 and relevant papers cited therein for detailed discussion on this topic). Jess Reed from the Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, presented an overview of gut metabolism and the role that berry polyphenols play in gut health. Dhanansayan Shanmuganayagam, also from the University of WisconsinMadison, WI, presented data on the ability of cranberry proanthocyanidins to stimulate the mucosal immune system in a mouse model of elemental enteral nutrition-induced mucosal immune dysfunction. Finally, Li Shu Wang from the Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, presented data from a human clinical study in colorectal cancer patients consuming black raspberry powder for 9 weeks. The data showed that black raspberry consumption resulted in modulation of enzymes associated with fatty acid metabolism, leading to decreased proliferation and inflammation in the colorectal cancer patients. In conclusion, it is apparent that berry fruits have a positive impact on human health and disease risk reduction as was heard yet again at another very successful symposium. Given this research trajectory, I look forward with great anticipation to the new findings that will be presented in two years at the 2015 B
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BHBS. Finally, I thank the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, all of the donors and participants of the 2013 BHBS symposium, and the authors who have contributed to the cluster of papers presented here.
Navindra P. Seeram*
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Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island 02881, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) Seeram, N. P. Berry fruits: compositional elements, biochemical activities and the impact of their intake on human health, performance and disease. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2008, 56, 627−629. (2) Seeram, N. P. Recent trends and advances in berry health benefits research. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2010, 58, 3869−3870. (3) Seeram, N. P. Emerging research supporting the positive effects of berries on human health and disease prevention. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2012, 60, 5685−5686. (4) Tomás-Barberán, F. A.; Somoza, V.; Finley, J. Food bioactives research and the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2012, 60, 6641−6643. (5) Tomás-Barberán, F. A.; Andrés-Lacueva, C. Polyphenols and health: current state and progress. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2012, 60, 8773−8775.
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