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By Emma Patten-Hitt, PhD
ATLANTA, Mar 26 (Reuters Health) - It is no secret that a diet high in fruits and vegetables can help keep you healthy. But Canadian researchers have found a new benefit for plant foods: they may fight bacteria.
Flavonoids are a class of chemical found in fruits and vegetables. In tests of 38 different plant-derived flavonoids, Dr. Hong-Xi Xu and colleagues from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, found that six flavonoids inhibited the growth of a drug-resistant bacterium. The bug, Staphylococcus aureus, was resistant to a powerful antibiotic called methicillin.
"Our findings showed that flavonoids contain antibacterial activity," Xu told Reuters Health. "It is well documented that people who eat more fruits and vegetables are healthier than those who do not. Could the antibacterial activity of flavonoids contribute to this? I think it is highly possible," he said.
"Hence, the implication of our findings is that eating more fruits and vegetables may help to fight bacterial infections," he added.
The bacteria-fighting flavonoids were myricetin, datiscetin, kaempferol, quercetin, flavone and luteolin. Myricetin inhibited the growth of several other types of multi-drug resistant bacteria that Xu and colleagues describe as "medically important," in their report published in the journal Phytotherapy Research.
The researchers tested myricetin further to see if they could determine how it killed the bacteria, and found it inhibited the ability of bacteria to make the proteins they need to live.
"There are fragmented studies prior to ours indicating the antimicrobial properties of flavonoids," Xu said. "Our study provided a comprehensive examination of the seven classes of flavonoids and also showed how one of flavonoids works," he explained. "People should continue to consume fruits and vegetables that are known to contain high levels of flavonoids," Xu said. Flavonoids are antioxidants, and have in previous studies been shown to have antiallergenic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and anti-cancer activity, he noted.
"I guess the message I would like to reiterate is: keep eating fruits and vegetables," Xu stated.
SOURCE: Phytotherapy Research 2001;15: 39-43.
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