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UC Davis Researchers Reveal Apples’ Unique, Protective Ways

Flavonoid-rich apples exhibit unique way to enhance health

SACRAMENTO, CA (May 17, 2006) – Doctors have long been encouraging Americans to add more fruits and vegetables to their daily diets. Now, researchers Dr. Eric Gershwin and Carl Keen at the University of California, Davis have discovered a new way in which flavonoid-rich apples and apple juice protect cells from the type of damage that leads to heart disease and age-related cancers.

The current findings appear in the May issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine. “We discovered how the unique mix of nutrients found in apples and apple juice can actually help improve health, starting at the cellular level,” says Eric Gershwin, professor of medicine at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

According to the researchers, proper communication between cells in the body is vital to every aspect of life. But when that communication is disrupted in some fashion, cells can be damaged or even die, leading to various disease states. In this case, Gershwin and his colleagues found that the distinctive combination of nutrients found in apples is able to protect cells from destruction by fighting off damage caused by unwelcome intruders in the body.

“It’s almost like having a spam filter on your computer; the good emails get through and the bad emails get stopped,” remarks Gershwin. “Here, the apple mixture we used acted like the spam filter.”

Earlier studies have shown that flavonoids—which are found in foods such as fruits, vegetables and tea—behave as antioxidants, taking up free oxygen radicals that can damage precious DNA. The UC Davis study takes that research further by looking beyond the beneficial antioxidant effects that apple products provide.

In the current study, Gershwin and his colleagues exposed human cells to an extract of an apple mash made from different apple varieties. The researchers then challenged these cells by exposing them to tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a protein-like compound found in the body that usually triggers cell death and promotes inflammation via a mechanism called the “nuclear factor (NF) kappa B pathway” (this pathway involves chemical signaling between cells). The researchers revealed that the apple extract was able to protect the cells from the normally lethal effects of TNF by interfering with this pathway that would otherwise damage or kill cells in the body. The researchers noted that the method by which apple extract protects cells is different than that reported for other flavonoid-rich foods.

“This apple research has helped us discover a new frontier that extends beyond what we have known for a long time - that apples and apple juice can contribute to better health,” says Gershwin. He adds that further research will help identify additional mechanisms by which the nutrients in apples and apple products can be protective against disease.

An abstract of this research can be found at: http://www.ebmonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/231/5/594

This research was funded through an unrestricted grant from the US Apple Association and the Apple Products Research and Education Council.