--A heart-healthy fruit cocktail devised by scientists could be just what the doctor ordered.

The mix of berry, grape and apple juices would provide the ideal blend of ingredients for lowering the risk of heart disease, experts said.

Numerous studies have suggested that polyphenol plant compounds can improve the functioning of arteries and protect the heart.

Now French scientists have come up with what they say is the healthiest and best-tasting combination of 13 different fruit juices.

Among the ingredients are grape, apple, blueberry, strawberry and lingonberry as well as
more exotic additions such as acerola - a cherry-like fruit from the West Indies - and aronia, also known as chokeberry, from America.

Grape juice makes up more than 60 per cent of the cocktail.

Various blends of fruit juices or purees were first studied in the laboratory for their effects on isolated pig arteries.

The final recipe was chosen after a taste test by 80 volunteer consumers.
Lead researcher Dr Cyril Auger, from the University of Strasbourg, said that of the fruits investigated, the most active ones were predominantly berries including cranberry, lingonberry, aronia, blackcurrant and blueberry, which were characterised by the presence of high levels of anthocyanins - pigments responsible for the blue-red colour of fruits.

Laboratory tests showed that exposure to the fruit juice blend caused heart artery walls to relax.

In a living animal this would improve blood flow to the heart and help to prevent it being deprived of oxygen and nutrients.

Measurements were also taken of the antioxidant power of different cocktail recipes, highlighting their ability to neutralise harmful molecules that can damage cells and DNA.

The tests showed that some polyphenols were more potent than others, and this was more important than the amount found in each fruit.

"The fact that several berries including raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry and elderberry had little biological activity despite having a high level of polyphenols indicates that the qualitative composition of the polyphenolic content is important for the biological activity," Dr Auger said.

Writing in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Food and Function, the authors concluded that their data showed that blends of fruit products could be developed to combine a high level of vasorelaxant activity and an enjoyable taste.

The healthy heart fruit cocktail consists of the following rounded-up proportions of ingredients: acerola 4 per cent, apple 10 per cent, grape 63 per cent, lingonberry 5 per cent, aronia 4 per cent, blueberry 10 per cent, and strawberry 10 per cent.

Fruit cocktail protection for the heart - Yahoo News.au