Why Haskap berry is considered “SUPERFOOD”?
Haskap berries, revered as a superfood, earn their esteemed status due to an extraordinary concentration of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
These small but mighty berries contain notably high levels of anthocyanins, renowned for their potent antioxidant properties that combat oxidative stress and inflammation.
Rich in vitamin C, haskap berries contribute to immune system support and skin health.
Furthermore, they house essential minerals like potassium, promoting heart health and optimal hydration. The combination of these nutritional powerhouses positions haskap berries as a superfood, offering a myriad of health benefits in a delicious and vibrant package.
Bioactive compounds in Haskap berries
- Polyphenols
Why Haskap berries have so much polyphenols? First, we have to answer the question what actually are polyphenols?
Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites produced by plants, specifically for protection against negative environmental factors, which threaten the survival of the plant, for example draught, UV radiation, insects and diseases (Szjadek 2008, Broda 2002). And to survive for any plant in a Northern Hemisphere is quite difficult.
In order to survive, haskap plant has leanrt to produce a lot of polyphenols: anthocyanins, mainly cyanide-3-glucoside (CG3), phenolic acids: mainly chlorogenic acid, flavanols and flavons: mainly lutoelin, querectin and catcehin (Rupasinghe et al., 2018).
- Anthocyanins- plant protection against UV radiation and frost
Anthocianinis are special polyphenoils, which are found in berries, that protect their tissues from harmful UV radiation. Anthocianins soak up the UV radiation and reduce the DNA damage risk, which would impair correct protein synthesis and cell multiplication (Steyn, 2002). Mostly polyphenols are concentrated in haskap berries because this protects the most valuable part of the plant- seeds, which are required for reproduction.
Anthocyanins are found in plant vacuoles and because of the sugar part, they store water, which possibly protects them from frost damage (Chakler-Scott 1999, 2002).
- Anthocyanins- prevention for chronic diseases
There is quite a lot of evidence suggesting significant antioxidant, cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anti-cancer and anti-diabetic anthocyanin-rich haskap preparations and anthocyanin alone both in vitro and in vivo (Rupasinghe et al., HPV 2018).
Although epidemiological studies have not yet shown that use of anthocyanins might reduce the risk of cancer for humans, but it has shown that anthocyanin use can reduce some parameters of oxidative damage (Weisel T, 2006)
Lonicera caerula (Blue honeysuckle/haskap) is also added to Canada‘s Health Ministry list of Natural Health Products as novel berry crop with high amount of antioxidants.
- Anthocyanins and Microbiome
According to the latest study findings microbiome in gut plays a major role in prevention of degenerative disease development.
In one study, where rats were given a high- fat diet and haskap berry powder for 4 weeks, immunoglobin A (igA) as well as the gut mucus amount have increased, which are the components of intestinal barrier function.
Polyphenols promote a beneficial change in the population of gut microbiota- it 3 times increased number of Bacteroidetes, which are beneficial for us (Taira T, 2015)
- Powerful antioxidant
One of the most important features of anthocyanins is their ability to neutralise free radicals, who for example cause oxidative degeneration of lipids.
If this process is not stopped by antioxidant, the end product of this process sticks to the DNA, disrupting proper protein production, cell functioning and might be cancerogenic or mutagenic.
Therefore, anthocyanins may prevent DNA and cell membrane damage. It is also notable that cyanidin is 4.4 times more active than Vitamin C (Wang H, 1996).
- Iridoids- compounds not usually found in fruits
Differently than polyphenols, iridoids are very rarely found in fruits, they are usually present in green parts of plants, that is why haskap berry is a unique fruit containing them. Considerable amount of research is now focused on plants that have anti-inflammatory properties. It looks like that each of those plants have a fraction of iridoids, which potentially supress inflammatory processes (Karłowicz-Bodalska 2017).
One of the iridoids that is dominant in haskap plants- Loganic acid, used as eye drops, may lower intraocular pressure (Szumny D 2015). Used in food, loganic acid is beneficial for lipid profile as changes in TC and HDL cholesterol levels were observed (Sozanski T 2016).
A substantial correlation was observed between antioxidant potential and the quantity of anthocyanins. Significant content of iridoids in haskap berries can complement antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds, especially anthocyanins (Kucharska AZ, 2017)
One of the latest reviews, published on iridoids, states that they are used as one of the active components in traditional Chinese medicine and natural medicine and have many biological effects such as anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and liver protection. Iridoids could also be used as antipyretic and sedating agents.
Curiously, for example loganin, which has the properties of endogenous neurotrophic factors, could stimulate repairing and the regeneration of nerves. Rats treated with iridoid glycoside showed substantially low levels of serum ALT, AST with markedly reduced liver fibrosis.
Almost all studies on iridoids are still focused on their structure and what is needed is comparative studies on structure and function to provide data to support for new medicine development (Wang C, 2020)
