Cranberries can keep you from cavities

The fruit harbours several anti-oxidants that show the ability to counteract the damaging effects of the tooth decay.

If you want your teeth to be free of caries/cavities, well then eating cranberries may be a good option, for a new study has found that the fruit harbours several anti-oxidants (flavonoids) that show the ability to counteract the damaging effects of the tooth decay causing bacteria.

HT Image

Dental caries results from the interaction of specific bacteria with constituents of the diet on a susceptible tooth surface.

Boffins found that cranberries harbour a plethora of biological compounds such as flavonoids (eg, quercetin and myricetin), phenolic acids (benzoic acid), anthocyanins, condensed tannins, among others, and that many of these substances can:

(i) inhibit enzymes associated with the formation of the plaque polysaccharide matrix

(ii) block the adherence of bacteria to surfaces

(iii) prevent acid formation

(iv) reduce acid tolerance of cariogenic organisms.

The scientists are conducting further research, which seeks to identify the specific active constituents in cranberries that could be useful as anti-caries/anti-plaque agents.