Abstract
The plant kingdom constitutes a source of new chemical compounds which may be important owing to their potential use in medicine and other applications. This study discussed the effect of taking 8 g of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) for 20 days on the blood samples of female volunteers where the hemoglobin levels before and after the study was recorded. The results showed mild increase in hemoglobin readings, decrease in total iron binding capacity (TIBC), increase in ferritin and decrease in transferrin. Also, there was mild increase in serum iron levels after taking beetroot. Regarding MCV, it showed mild increase in four volunteers only. However, more research is needed to clearly identify mechanisms of action and proper dosing patterns to maximize the performance benefits of beetroot. Key words: Beetroot, Beta vulgaris L., iron.
Highlights
In different parts of the world especially in Africa and Asia with high incidence of the disease, the people have learnt to manage the problem using plants which are God’s gift of nature
The iron status of the subjects was assessed at onset of the study by assaying a venous blood sample for hemoglobin, total iron binding capacity,serum ferritin, serum transferrin, mean cell volume and serum iron
The findings of the study are consistent with the study conducted by Gayathri Priya et al (2013) and on the other hand, the levels of total iron binding capacity (TIBC) decreased for all subjects after taking beetroot in relation to pre-test levels, and the percentage for the decrease ranged between 1.2 and 14.3% as in Table 1 and Figure 2; this decrease in TIBC may be related to improvement of iron store as a result of beetroot intake
Summary
In different parts of the world especially in Africa and Asia with high incidence of the disease, the people have learnt to manage the problem using plants which are God’s gift of nature. In the study by Kanner et al (2001), two betalain metabolites (betanin and betanidin) were shown to reduce linoleate damage induced by cytochrome C oxidase and lipid membrane oxidation induced by H2O2-activated metmyoglobin and free iron (AA-Fe). A study by Wootton-Beard and Colleagues suggests that a key mechanism by which beetroot juice exerts its antioxidant effects is by scavenging radical species (Wootton-Beard et al, 2011). They found that two commercially available beetroot juices inhibited in vitro radical formation in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonicacid ABTS assays by 100 and 92%, respectively. The antioxidant capacity of beetroot juice in both the (DPPH) and FRAP assays was far greater than more well-known vegetable juices
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