North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Moyer, Richard" <ramoyer@king.edu>]

Rob,
Please find below several links of extensive studies on a variety of foods,
for antioxidant content.  Keep in mind average serving sizes when thinking
about dietary antioxidant potential; that is cinnamon is very high per gram,
but who eats a cup of cinnamon at a time.  Now for the fun; chocolate is
also quite high, and there are those among us who appreciate reasons to
consume more chocolate.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Nov03/HotCocoa-Lee.bpf.html
A very general rule of thumb is the "stain factor".  The worse a fruit or
vegetable (product)stains your clothes, teeth or table cloth, the higher the
antioxidants, in general, as the pigments themselves are usually
antioxidants.  Hence back currants are much higher in antioxidants than red
currants, and black raspberries over red raspberries, and small blueberries
over larger ones.
Back to the principle of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Multiple servings a day deliver large portions of antioxidants, and IMO are
more enjoyable than importing cases of pomegranate juice. Hot cocoa in the
morning, green tea at lunch and red wine at (after) dinner are promoted in
the link above.

At the NAFEX meeting last August, we were introduced to ongoing studies
there concerning absorption of antioxidants in kale.  That is, a food may be
high in antioxidants, but how well does it get into our bloodstream?  This
factor is crucial, and is being examined.  How large a factor dietary
antioxidants play in human health remains to be sorted out.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=15
1343
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=14
6431
You may request these papers from a research library.
general list of Prior work:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=4527&showpubs=true

Separately, we did a study several years ago on 107 kinds of blueberries,
blackberries, black raspberries, black currants, and gooseberries.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ui
ds=11804523&dopt=Abstract

Beware that certain lists I've seen are selective in what they include and
exclude, depending on which fruit/juice is being promoted.
Hope this helps.

Richard Moyer
Bristol, TN
Blueberry/shagbark hickory nut pancakes for lunch today, with blackberry
jam!

P.S. Given with reservation:
Scroll down on this link for a list including pomegranates, after other
promoted potions:
Read some of the interpretive info with a grain of salt, but there are many
values given there.
http://fileroot.com/DHN/pages/orac.html

-

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