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Eating a Cabernet Pepperberry Paste with your cheese, a Red Wine Chilli Sauce made with Native Pepperberry with your steak or a Native Pepperberry infused Red Wine JUS with your salads could curb the harmful effects of free radicals and soothe the ravages of time, a study has found.
Clinical research has shown that Australian Native Fruits contain 'exceptional' levels of disease fighting antioxidants. Research at Food Science Australia, a joint venture between the CSIRO Australia’s peak scientific body and the Victorian Government has shown that bush foods have very powerful antioxidant properties.
When compared with the renowned 'superfood' blueberry some of the bush foods that were tested contained around five times the amount of antioxidants of blueberries. The harsh Australian landscape may account for the findings the study suggested.
Co-author Dr Izabela Konczak stated: “Australian plants have developed in complete isolation from the fruits of the northern hemisphere, with some plants, such as the Tasmanian Pepperberry, associated with hardy Antarctic flora."
“If we expose plant cells to stress they produce compounds which protect the plant, and these work in humans as well and can protect us from nasty free radicals,” Konczak continued.
She also added that: “Eating antioxidants could prevent the development of chronic diseases and stem the ageing process.”
Pepperberry and red wine
Australian Native Pepperberry has an aromatic flavour that enhances the peppery characteristics of a good red wine, according to Martin Cheney from Australian Harvest. The company produces a selection of healthy gourmet foods based on the Bio-Grape an extract from red wine grapes which contains over 600 powerful antioxidants.
The combination of Australian Native Pepperberry, Organic Red Wine and the Bio-Grape skin extract are used in a range of innovative organic gourmet foods which are all tested and rated for their high antioxidant content. All the products in the range have an ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity) Rating which is an international standard for the measurement of the antioxidant activity of food.
The Australian Harvest products that use Australian Native Pepperberry includes Organic Cabernet Pepperberry Paste, Organic Chilli Shiraz Paste, Organic Shiitake Chilli Paste, Organic Red Wine Chilli Sauce, Organic Red Wine Jus and Australian Harvest Red Wine Mustard.