Forget blueberries, this new superfood could slash cholesterol

A new variety of red berry grapes marketed as Boombites are about to help revolutionise our snacking. They are black outside and deep red inside - and it's this that accounts for their health-boosting nutritional profile.

Their colour is down to high levels of anthocyanins, the powerful antioxidant which also makes blueberries blue and which gives them their superfood status. But the new red berry grapes not only have antioxidant levels on a par with blueberries, they are also rich in resveratrol - another health-enhancing anti-inflammatory antioxidant.

Resveratrol is thought to explain what's known as the 'French paradox' - the fact that France has very low rates of heart disease despite the population's diet being laden with saturated fats and often washed down with wine.

The new Boombites were created by crossing old varieties of wine grapes, which have red flesh and high levels of resveratrol, with some of the world's tastiest varieties of the fruit. It took thousands of different combinations of small and soft wine grapes with large, sweet, and crunchy seedless table grapes to create the red berry version.

The cross-breeding process involves removing the male part from the flowers of one parent plant before they have a chance to produce pollen, and then using a fine brush to transfer pollen from the other parent plant. It's so painstaking that Bloom Fresh, the agricultural innovators behind the new grapes, often employ people who worked as embroiderers

to carry out this specialist pollination process. Once they're pollinated, the immature bunches are then covered to prevent airborne pollen from any other grape variety disrupting the process.

The same technique is being used to develop fruit and vegetable varieties with increased resistance to pests and climate change as well as even healthier varieties of fruit and vegetables. Tests by researchers at the Spanish University of Murcia showed the new Boombites have three times more resveratrol than blueberries and comparable levels of antioxidants.

Dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine a member of the Red Berry Grape Advisory Board - an expert panel set up to explore the science and health benefits of grapes and new varieties - says: "Blueberries are widely recognised as a superfruit thanks to their high antioxidant levels, and regular consumption is linked with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, so it's great that now we also have a red berry grape variety that's naturally sweet and crunchy, offering comparable levels of antioxidants and an impressive amount of resveratrol, providing another delicious option for supporting health."

The Murcia researchers also found the grapes hit a surprising metabolic sweet spot. Despite having similar amounts of natural fruit sugars, they showed much lower glucose uptakes than standard varieties. Dr Nisa Aslam, a GP on the Red Berry Grape Advisory Board, says: "This means that while new red berry grapes are sweet to taste, the combination of phenols they contain alters the way that these sugars are transported and absorbed in the gut.

"This may have major implications for weight control, insulin response and dietary advice around fruit consumption, with consumers restricting intakes of fruits rich in antioxidants because of concerns about sugar."

New consumer research confirms 60% of adults have tried to cut back on sugar and another 10% know they should. Around seven in 10 also considered monitoring the glycemic index, or GI, of the foods they eat so they can gauge how rapidly sugars go into their bloodstream.

Dr Aslam adds: "Glucose metabolism is also closely linked to the cardiovascular system and some experts believe it should be recognised as an independent risk factor for heart diseases and the circulatory system."

This metabolic edge is thought to stem from the new red berry grapes having such high levels of antioxidant polyphenols coupled with fibre and other nutrients. The total package is known as the 'food matrix', a concept now an increasingly hot topic among scientists looking at diet and health.

Nichola explains: "The food matrix is simply the physical structure of the foods we eat, how this influences the way we absorb different nutrients - and how this can be altered when food is processed rather than eaten in its natural form.

"For instance, we absorb more calories from ground or chopped nuts as we do from eating the same quantity of whole nuts."

• Boombites are available in Marks & Spencer and Ocado for a limited time only. Visit boombites.com for more information

BOOST FOR HEART HEALTH

Antioxidants are associated with a wide range of health benefits, but studies suggest polyphenols - such as the anthocyanins which give the new grapes their distinctive red flesh - are particularly important. Population studies show eating a diet packed with polyphenols reduces the risk of cardiovascular (CVD) disease - which affects 7.6 million people here - by 46%.

This is thought to be due to multiple benefits including reduced oxidative stress and inflammation and improvements in blood cholesterol, clotting and endothelial function, the term used to describe the elasticity of blood vessels. Anthocyanins, the polyphenols which give blueberries, acai berries and goji berries their deep purple colour and superfruit status, have proven cardioprotective properties.

They could prevent CVDs through their lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory properties. A study in the Frontiers in Nutrition journal concluded eating anthocyanin-rich berries regularly "could prevent cardiovascular diseases through their lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory properties".

Resveratrol is the antioxidant thought to explain health benefits associated with red wine, and is also found in fruits including grapes and blueberries. A super study combining 13 trials involving more than 209,000 people, showed wine drinkers had a 32% reduction in the risk of heart disease and stroke, compared to non-drinkers.