The orange is a fruit of high consumption worldwide, rich and delicious to accompany the breakfasts of thousands of people and that obviously has many top-level properties to provide health and well-being, but Is the orange the most antioxidant fruit? Let’s know the truth on its contributions of vitamin C , calcium , flavonoids and minerals as well as the effectiveness of orange juice to fight free radicals in an effective way while offering you fiber for excellent digestion. Stay here and discover the importance of the color of the fruit and orange juice to calculate its antioxidant capacity.
Currently there is a new technique developed by the University of Granada, this allows us to measure the quality and quantity of antioxidants and they have managed to discover that their values (of the orange) are up to 10 times higher than we believed.
The best way to get accurate measurement of antioxidant capacity
Generally, all the juices or juices of citrus fruits are considered highly healthy due to their great antioxidant properties , managing to reduce and face the damage caused by free radicals . Right now there is tangible evidence that the orange was completely undervalued in terms of the quantity and quality of its antioxidant action.
The values of orange juice in terms of its antioxidant power were estimated at about 2.3 millimoles Trolox / liter (units of antioxidant capacity), but currently and with new highly precise measurement systems it is possible to determine that they are in the order of the 23 mmol Trolox / L. This obviously requires an exhaustive review of all current tables regarding the antioxidant capacities of the various citrus fruits .
It is important to note that these laboratory tests only refer to the liquid part of food, why? Because it is only possible to evaluate the antioxidant capacity by simulating digestion in the digestive system, that is, the liquid fraction that we consume.
The serious problem is the lack of measurement of the antioxidant power of the solid part (fiber) because it was thought that it was wasted, but now it is known that it also reaches the intestine and the microbiotic allows the fermentation of the same and achieve the extraction of much more antioxidant substance , which is now possible to assess with new methods.
Tangible results of increased antioxidant power
When discovering that all the fruit (solid and liquid) allows contributions of antioxidants , the figures considered real on the antioxidant power of the orange obviously skyrocket, which is why it is now considered that it maintains about 10 times more antioxidant power than previously believed.
A novel technique that effectively allows the correct updating of the knowledge that we had until now based on the antioxidant power of foods , including of course that of orange and other citrus fruits , which will obviously be of great help to dieticians and health authorities.
These studies and their details have been published in the journal Food Chemistry , and they have managed to include a large number of parameters such as color, the ratio of the various concentrations analyzed, as well as the physical / chemical parameters used for each of the various measurements.
A matter of color
In addition to this, it is important to mention that the color of oranges allows an extremely simple visual calculation to be carried out and demonstrated in laboratories, since there is indeed a proportional relationship between the color and the amount of antioxidant that this fruit maintains. That is, the higher the color, the greater the amount of antioxidant properties .
A relationship that obviously needs a variety of studies and further studies, and although it is confirmed it is still not entirely clear what it is due to. Although obviously the substances in charge of providing the color to this fruit must interact and achieve all its antioxidant qualities that carry out so much benefit for the health of consumers.
In conclusion, oranges are full of vitamin C and flavonoids such as herperidin, rutin and quercetin capable of providing an invaluable help to deal with the damage caused by the elements or external agents such as free radicals. And in this way maintain the best fight against a large number of degenerative diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis or aging itself.
