Food Chemicals
Purple grape juice best among all juices
By Ben Wasserman - foodconsumer.org
Mar 15, 2007 - 3:59:54 PM

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Many people start their breakfast with a glass of orange juice.   But a new study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry suggests that a glass of grape juice may be better than any other juice.  

That suggestion is based on the antioxidant activity in fruit juices, which is believed to help delay premature aging and ward off heart disease and other chronic diseases.

Among the juices tested, orange juice contains fewer polyphenols, which are strong antioxidants, than others, according to researchers at the University of Glasgow, who conducted the study.   In addition to grape juice, apple juice and cranberry juice possess a high antioxidant activity as well.

Alan Crozier, professor of plant biochemistry and human nutrition who led the study, was quoted by independent.co.uk as saying "Purple grape juice made with Concord grapes contains the highest and broadest range of polyphenols as well as having the highest antioxidant capacity. Other high-ranking products include cloudy apple juice and cranberry juice drink."

The study was funded by the National Grape Co-operative, a consortium of farmers in the US operated by Welch's, the famous producer of Concord purple grape juice.

Drinking fruit juices is believed to provide many health benefits. In a recent study, researchers followed almost 2,000 men and women for up to 10 years and found drinking juices three times a week lowered the risk for Alzheimer’s disease by 76 percent compared to those who drank less than once a week.

A recent French study funded also by Welch's Foods Inc. and published in the journal Cardiovascular Research shows that polyphenols in Concord grape juice improve production of nitric oxide in endothelial cells, which promotes cardiovascular health.

The current study of 13 most popular fruit juices sold in Britain found that the maximal benefits could be obtained from a juice with a wide spectrum of polyphenols at high concentrations.   One juice that meets that criterion is Concord grape juice, which contains high concentrations of a wide variety of polyphenolic antioxidants.

Antioxidants including but not limited to vitamin C are known to be able to neutralize DNA-damaging free radicals, which would otherwise lead to DNA damage and potentially cause cancer and premature aging.

Professor Crozier was quoted as saying "Supplementing a healthy diet with a regular intake of a variety of fruit juices such as purple grape juice, grapefruit juice, cloudy apple juice and cranberry juice, will increase the consumer's intake of phenolic antioxidants.”

Crozier said that the best juice to drink is a mixture of a variety of juices including purple grape juice, grapefruit juice, cloudy apple juice and cranberry juice, which contain high levels of antioxidants.

According to the study, purple grape contains 0.98 millimoles of antioxidants per liter, compared to 0.67 mm/L in cloudy apple, 0.45 in pomegranate, 0.32 in cranberry, 0.30 in grapefruit juice, 0.26 in clear apple juice and o.12 in tropical juice.

Juices made from orange, pineapple, tomato, red grape, white grape contain less than 0.1 mm/L.

The amount of antioxidant phenolics in purple grape juice is found equal to that in a Beaujolais red wine, according to the study.