Serum Antioxidant Capacity Is Increased by Consumption of Strawberries, Spinach, Red Wine or Vitamin C in Elderly Women

Manuscript received 13 May 1998. Initial reviews completed 23 July 1998. Revision accepted 20 August 1998.

Guohua Cao^*, , Robert M. Russell^*, Neal Lischner^*, and Ronald L. Prior^*,

^* USDA-ARS, Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111 and  Nutritional Science Department, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269.

It is often assumed that antioxidant nutrients contribute to the protection afforded by fruits, vegetables, and red wine against diseases of aging. However, the effect of fruit, vegetable and red wine consumption on the overall antioxidant status in human is unclear. In this study we investigated the responses in serum total antioxidant capacity following comsumption of strawberries (240 g), spinach (294 g), red wine (300 ml) or vitamin C (1250 mg) in eight elderly women. Total antioxidant capacity was determined using different methods: oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay and ferric reducing ability (FRAP) assay. The results showed that the total antioxidant capacity of serum determined as ORAC, TEAC and FRAP, using the area under the curve, increased significantly by 7-25% during the 4-h period following consumption of red wine, strawberries, vitamin C or spinach. The total antioxidant capacity of urine determined as ORAC increased (P < 0.05) by 9.6, 27.5, and 44.9% for strawberries, spinach, and vitamin C, respectively, during the 24-h period following these treatments. The plasma vitamin C level after the strawberry drink, and the serum urate level after the strawberry and spinach treatments, also increased significantly. However, the increased vitamin C and urate levels could not fully account for the increased total antioxidant capacity in serum following the consumption of strawberries, spinach or red wine. We conclude that the consumption of strawberries, spinach or red wine, which are rich in antioxidant phenolic compounds, can increase the serum antioxidant capacity in humans. J. Nutr. 2383-2390, 1998

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 12 December 1998, pp. 2383-2390
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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