New research pegs artichokes as antioxidant powerhouse
New research pegs artichokes as antioxidant powerhouse
Researchers from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Oslo in Norway used the ferric reducing ability of plasma assay method to measure the antioxidant levels in 1,113 different food and beverage items. Artichokes were found to be the leading vegetables in terms of providing anti-oxidants per servings and were No. 4 overall. The results were recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Armed with the new research, Castroville, CA-based Ocean Mist Farms, which is the nation's largest producer and shipper of artichokes, has launched a nationwide publicity campaign touting the health benefits of artichokes. Ocean Mist has taken the results from this independent research project and is disseminating the information through press releases and media contacts throughout the country.
In fact, the company has hired The Perishables Group, based in Chicago, to help publicize this great news about artichokes.
Kari Volyn of The Perishables Group told The Produce News April 3 that she and her colleagues had just begun to start calling the media and were expecting to generate some national interest within a week or two. Ocean Mist has also developed a carton stuffer to get the news to the nation's retailers.
Ocean Mist spokesperson Kori Tuggle said that a point-of-sale information card measuring 6-by-11 inches is being placed in every carton of Ocean Mist artichokes through the months of April and May. Ocean Mist ships about 150,000 cartons of artichokes per week, so more than 1 million cards will be distributed.
The cards feature an attractive picture of an artichoke along with a headline that calls artichokes an "Antioxidant Power House" and directs consumers to the Ocean Mist Farms web site at www.oceanmist.com.
Antioxidants are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, certain cancers, Alzheimer's and other chronic diseases.
Katherine Phillips, a research scientist at Virginia Tech and one of the study's authors, was quoted in an Ocean Mist press release as stating that "antioxidants are bioactive compounds in foods that work in our body to help stop the action of free radicals, protect healthy cells and contribute to good health."
She said that high levels of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables have been associated with rich, deep colors such like those found in berries and tomatoes, so the researchers "were surprised to find that cooked fresh artichokes (with their pale green color) were very high in antioxidants but also to learn that they were the very highest in antioxidants out of all vegetables we measured."
Blackberries, walnuts and strawberries were the top three items on the list, with frozen blackberries achieving the study's highest level of antioxidants at 5.845 micromoles per cup (with one mole equaling one gram of any substance, given its molecular mass). Fresh blackberries had 5.794 micromoles per cup. Researchers found that artichokes at 3.559 micromoles of antioxidants per half-cup serving actually had a higher per gram content of antioxidants than blackberries, but the study used "servings" as its guideline. One cup of blackberries is apparently considered a serving, while only one-half cup of cooked artichoke classifies as a serving.
As a point of reference, 3.5 ounces of red win was measured at a little more than 2 micromoles, while eight ounces of grape juice topped 2.5 micromoles and a cup of cranberries topped 3 micromoles per serving.
Armed with the new research, Castroville, CA-based Ocean Mist Farms, which is the nation's largest producer and shipper of artichokes, has launched a nationwide publicity campaign touting the health benefits of artichokes. Ocean Mist has taken the results from this independent research project and is disseminating the information through press releases and media contacts throughout the country.
In fact, the company has hired The Perishables Group, based in Chicago, to help publicize this great news about artichokes.
Kari Volyn of The Perishables Group told The Produce News April 3 that she and her colleagues had just begun to start calling the media and were expecting to generate some national interest within a week or two. Ocean Mist has also developed a carton stuffer to get the news to the nation's retailers.
Ocean Mist spokesperson Kori Tuggle said that a point-of-sale information card measuring 6-by-11 inches is being placed in every carton of Ocean Mist artichokes through the months of April and May. Ocean Mist ships about 150,000 cartons of artichokes per week, so more than 1 million cards will be distributed.
The cards feature an attractive picture of an artichoke along with a headline that calls artichokes an "Antioxidant Power House" and directs consumers to the Ocean Mist Farms web site at www.oceanmist.com.
Antioxidants are associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, certain cancers, Alzheimer's and other chronic diseases.
Katherine Phillips, a research scientist at Virginia Tech and one of the study's authors, was quoted in an Ocean Mist press release as stating that "antioxidants are bioactive compounds in foods that work in our body to help stop the action of free radicals, protect healthy cells and contribute to good health."
She said that high levels of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables have been associated with rich, deep colors such like those found in berries and tomatoes, so the researchers "were surprised to find that cooked fresh artichokes (with their pale green color) were very high in antioxidants but also to learn that they were the very highest in antioxidants out of all vegetables we measured."
Blackberries, walnuts and strawberries were the top three items on the list, with frozen blackberries achieving the study's highest level of antioxidants at 5.845 micromoles per cup (with one mole equaling one gram of any substance, given its molecular mass). Fresh blackberries had 5.794 micromoles per cup. Researchers found that artichokes at 3.559 micromoles of antioxidants per half-cup serving actually had a higher per gram content of antioxidants than blackberries, but the study used "servings" as its guideline. One cup of blackberries is apparently considered a serving, while only one-half cup of cooked artichoke classifies as a serving.
As a point of reference, 3.5 ounces of red win was measured at a little more than 2 micromoles, while eight ounces of grape juice topped 2.5 micromoles and a cup of cranberries topped 3 micromoles per serving.
