Berry Antioxidants in Health and Disease—2nd Edition

A special issue of Antioxidants (ISSN 2076-3921). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Outcomes of Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 203

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Food and Agriculture and Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
Interests: integrative approaches on the role, mechanisms of action and health benefits of polyphenol-rich foods and their bioactive compounds on cardiometabolic disease in in vitro, preclinical and clinical studies; role of berry bioactive compound extracts on endothelial cell migration and angiogenesis as it relates to diabetes mellitus, ischemic disorders and wound healing
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Guest Editor
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1571, USA
Interests: phytochemical-rich food based approaches to promoting health and reducing cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk; clinical and translational research approaches; integration of multiple disciplines spanning agriculture, food science, nutrition, dietetics, metabolism, biomedical sciences, physiology, to public health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The last two decades have shown an exponential increase in research on the health-promoting benefits of berries and berry bioactive compounds, offering unique insights into their bioavailability, metabolism, their impact on the gut microbiome and in vivo antioxidant and related health benefits. The appreciation of the role of berry-derived bioactive compounds and polyphenol metabolite metabolism and their role in mediating chronic disease risk and outcomes has exploded. Additionally, a deeper understanding of their molecular mode of action and clinical significance has been documented. Further, consuming diets enriched in berries has been shown in numerous epidemiological, pre-clinical and clinical intervention studies to attenuate the risk of chronic diseases—such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, certain cancers, and diabetes mellitus—and to reduce oxidative stress and inflammation and beneficially impact the gut microbiome.

This Special Issue will publish both reviews and original research papers on the role of berry-related antioxidant effects in maintaining health or in preventing and/or reversing disease. Additionally, papers on the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways engaged by berry bioactive compounds and their metabolites will be included.

Prof. Dr. Dorothy Klimis-Zacas
Prof. Dr. Sarah A. Johnson
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • berries
  • antioxidants
  • polyphenols
  • berry metabolites
  • oxidative stress
  • chronic diseases
  • cardiovascular disease
  • metabolic syndrome
  • diabetes mellitus
  • cancer
  • neurodegenerative disease
  • gut microbiome

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

21 pages, 1844 KB  
Review
Calafate (Berberis buxifolia Lam.) Berry as a Source of Bioactive Compounds with Potential Health-Promoting Effects: A Critical Review
by Jaime Ortiz-Viedma, Claudia Vergara, Tamar Toledo, Liliana Zura-Bravo, Marcos Flores, Constanza Barrera and Roberto Lemus-Mondaca
Antioxidants 2025, 14(11), 1272; https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox14111272 - 22 Oct 2025
Abstract
Calafate berry, an ancient perennial shrub of South America (Chile and Argentina), produces a high antioxidant capacity berry with a high polyphenol (1344.2–6553 mg GAE/100 g d.w.) and anthocyanin (26.5–80 mg C-3-G/100 g d.w.) content. The beneficial effects of calafate berries on human [...] Read more.
Calafate berry, an ancient perennial shrub of South America (Chile and Argentina), produces a high antioxidant capacity berry with a high polyphenol (1344.2–6553 mg GAE/100 g d.w.) and anthocyanin (26.5–80 mg C-3-G/100 g d.w.) content. The beneficial effects of calafate berries on human health are related to the anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, anticancer, and antioxidant properties that the berries possess, which have been confirmed through evidence to date, primarily from in vitro, ex vivo, and animal studies. Several investigations have shown a relationship between the consumption of calafate and a reduction in the risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases (CVD). This was evident in changes in plasma level biomarkers related to CVD, such as thrombomodulin (−24%), adiponectin (+68%), sE-selectin (−34%), sICAM-1 (−24%) and proMMP-9 (−31%), and changes in the production of OH radicals in plasma (−17%) after calafate intake. Calafate may have an antithrombotic role that supports cardiovascular health by lowering the Atherogenic and Cardiovascular Risk Indices. Various authors indicate delphinidin-3-glucoside (384–386 mg/100 g) as the primary bioactive compound responsible for the beneficial properties of Calafate. Although some studies report calafate’s health benefits, scientific evidence, especially in humans, remains limited. Meanwhile, Chile is working to domesticate and cultivate calafate, aiming to turn it from a wild native berry into a sustainable crop for use in the antioxidants and nutraceuticals industry. The lack of human clinical trials emphasizes the need for future research to validate calafate’s health benefits berry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Berry Antioxidants in Health and Disease—2nd Edition)
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