Health benefits of gooseberries

Health benefits of gooseberries

• Gooseberries are low in calories; 100 g of fresh berries hold just 44 calories. As in blackcurrants, they too have significantly high amounts of phenolic phytochemicals, especially flavones and anthocyanins. Both of these compounds have been found to have numerous health-benefiting effects against cancer, aging, inflammation, and neurological diseases.
• They moderately good in anti-oxidant values. At 3277 umol TE/100g, gooseberries have oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) value, which can be comparable to that of red currants (3387umol TE/100g).
• The berries are a moderate source of vitamin-C. 100 g of fresh berries provide 27.7 mcg or 46% of daily-recommended intake values of vitamin C. Research studies have shown that consumption of fruits rich in vitamin-C helps body develop immunity against infectious agents, and help scavenge harmful oxygen free radicals from the body.
• They carry a small amount of vitamin-A. 100 g berries has 290 IU or 10 % of RDA of this vitamin. Vitamin A is required for maintaining integrity of mucusa and skin and essential component of visual cycle. In addition, consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamins and flavonoid anti-oxidants has been found to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• Fresh berries contain small amounts of essential vitamins such as pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), folates, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). Some of these vitamins are essential in the sense that the body requires them for metabolism from external sources to replenish.
• Furthermore, gooseberries contain moderate levels of minerals such as copper, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, and potassium.
• Indian gooseberries (amla) are exceptionally rich in vitamin C. 100 g of amla carry astoundingly 445 mg of vitamin-C. However, their much of anti-oxidant properties come from other anti-oxidant compounds in them like tannins (emblicanin, punigluconin, pedunculagin etc).