|
NEWS |
|
Better Than an Apple a Day Excerpt from April 2001 newsletter Patsy Flanigan
Although progress has made in reducing the incidence of atherosclerosis, coronary artery disease is still the cause of one out of three deaths in Western civilization today. High dietary fiber diets have been associated with the treatment and prevention of some coronary diseases. Other factors are important also, including the viscosity and solubility of the fiber; and the amount and interrelationship of vitamins, major minerals, and trace minerals. This has led to the recommendation to eat a diet rich in vegetables and fruits.
Often we see lists of fruits and vegetables that are recommended for their antioxidant qualities. It is usually the ones that are deep green and orange, but you hardly ever see persimmons listed, even though they are deep orange. We wondered why, and asked Amy Howell of Rutgers University. She said that the research just had not been done. That was over a year ago, and she and her team have been researching the persimmon since. They have come up with some "exciting findings" and expect to publish soon. Evidently the same thought came up in Israel
Apples have been known to contain most of these beneficial factors in varying amounts, so they were used as a baseline in a recent study to evaluate persimmons. Dr. Shela Gorinstein and her team of researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem published their findings in a February issue of the Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry.
In studying the whole fruit, the peels and the pulp of apples and persimmons, they found that persimmons were higher in total soluble and insoluble dietary fibers than apples. Total phenols in the persimmons were significantly higher than in the apples. The contents of the minerals Potassium, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Manganese and Iron were all shown to be higher in persimmons than in apples.
The researchers studied rats that were given a cholesterol containing diet. They found that when the diet was supplemented with dry persimmon, lipid levels improved and there was an antioxident effect. When the diet was fortified with persimmon peel, the effect was even more efficient than with just the whole fruit.
To quote a line from the discussion, "Relationships between the major phenolics, fibers and minerals can be an explanation of the high activity of persimmon as a free radical scavenger". And finally, " The higher content of the studied constituents in persimmons makes this fruit preferable for an antiatherosclerosis preventing diet. . . . Persimmon and apple peels are rich in all studied compounds and therefore can be used by individuals and in industrial processing.”
Flanigan Farms brand "Nuts 'N' Fruit", sold in most regional supermarkets, contains organic dried persimmons as one of the ingredients. Dried persimmon slices are also available for the consumer. |
