What foods contain more antioxidants than we think?

According to new research published in the Food Industry magazine, the methods being used to determine antioxidant activity only tell a part of the truth. Therefore, the benefits of some foods like orange juice may be more important than we thought.

Researchers from the University of Granada have developed a method called Global Antioxidant Reaction (GAR) and confirmed that this method can be analyzed more thoroughly, because it evaluates food completely. .

Photo: ctvnews.ca

Researchers believe that the method being used to determine the value of oxidants can only calculate the amount of substance absorbed by the small intestine, called the liquid portion .

"The problem is that the solid antioxidant activity (fiber) is not measured, because it is assumed that this part is not beneficial," said study author José Ángel Rufián-Henares.

'However, this insoluble substance still reaches the large intestine and the intestinal microbiota can also ferment it and extract more antioxidants. Our new method can calculate this amount ".

Using the GAR method to simulate in vitro colonization of the digestive tract for oranges, tangerines, lemons and grapefruit, both commercial and natural, the team found that 70% of the activity against oxygen chemistry takes place with the solid food portion. This means that previously defined numbers may be much lower than actual ones.

'On average, antioxidant activities are 10 times higher than what we often think, and not only in fruit juice but also in any other food analyzed by this method ,' Rufian -Henares said.