ABSTRACT
The botanical term fruit refers to both fruits and vegetables. Vege tables are immature fruits consumed raw or cooked, while fruits are consumed in their ripe form and do not need to be cooked before consumption. Traditionally valued for their tasty pulp, or meat, and as excellent sources of ascorbic acid and other vitamins and essential minerals, fruits are now valued for their peels and pigment content as well. Since pigments and other plant secondary metabolites, which are essentially plant defense compounds, are more concentrated in fruit peel than pulp, the peel has a functional value in human health. Anthocyanins, a major group of plant pigments, develop as the fruits ripen, and these flavonoids are often responsible for the orange, red, and blue colors in fruits. Fruits and their anthocyanins have come to be known for their functional benefits, including their strong antioxi dant activity in metabolic reactions (Einbond et al. 2004), inhibition of cancer cell growth (Kamei et al. 1993), chemotherapeutic properties for numerous diseases (Bomser et al. 1996), and effect on oxidative stress, the aging process, and cancers (Rice-Evans 1999). Antioxidant properties of anthocyanins are due to their high reactivity as hydrogen or electron donors, the ability of their polyphenol-derived radicals to stabilize and delocalize the unpaired electrons, and their ability to chelate transition metal ions (Rice-Evans et al. 1997).
