Eating fruits and vegetables also reduces blood pressure, boosts the immune system, detoxifies contaminants and
pollutants, and reduces inflammation.
indicated that their results provide further evidence that a high intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with a
modest reduction in major chronic disease risk and support the recommendation of consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
Fruits and some beverages constitute the main sources of polyphenols, a group of phytochemicals recognized as the most
abundant antioxidants in our diet.
There is emerging evidence for a role for polyphenols in the prevention of degenerative diseases,such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Studies using organically and conventionally cultivated strawberries demonstrated that extracts from organic strawberries showed higher anti proliferative activity against colon cancer and breast cancer cells than did extracts from conventional strawberries.
However, the health effects of polyphenols depend on the amount that is consumed and on their bioavailability.
Several factors may affect the polyphenol content of plants, such as ripeness at the time of harvest, genotype (Picchi
et al., 2012), environmental factors, processing and storage.