Abstract
Objective: The research designed to explore, for the 1st time, the probable antioxidant activity and protective effect of oral administration of beetroot (Beta vulgaris Rubra) and Swiss chard (B. vulgaris Cicla) juices against barium chloride (BaCl2)-induced toxicity in rats through investigating the changes on complete blood picture, heart and lung oxidative biomarkers, cardiac function tests, inflammatory markers as well as adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity, hypokalemia, and electrolyte disturbances.
 Methods: Seventy-five adult male albino rats of Sprague-Dawley strains (150±5 g) were divided into five groups (15/each) except healthy control group which contains 10 rats, and BaCl2 control group that contains 20 rats as follows: Group I: Healthy control; Group II: BaCl2 control, and Groups III, IV, and V: BaCl2 intoxicated groups supplemented with 1 ml of beetroot, Swiss chard, and combination of both juices, respectively/kg body weight 3 times per week orally.
 Results: Results explored that beetroot and Swiss chard juices contain significant amount of polyphenols and flavonoids as well as macro- and micronutrients that improved the complete blood picture, heart and lung oxidative stress parameters, cardiac function tests, inflammatory markers, ATPase activity, hypokalemia, and also electrolyte balance in supplemented groups compared to BaCl2 control group.
 Conclusion: This search illustrated that fresh beetroot and Swiss chard juices can improve various biochemical abnormalities resulted from BaCl2 toxicity. BaCl2 intoxicated rats that were supplemented with combination of juices showed the most significant improvements.
Highlights
Chemical contamination is a major global issue of food and water safety and quality
Total polyphenols content, and total antioxidant capacity of beetroot and Swiss chard juices Table 1 illustrates that both beetroot and Swiss chard juices have a high content of active components such as flavonoids and polyphenols and have high antioxidant capacity
On comparison between beetroot and Swiss chard juice results, it was found that beetroot juice has a higher content of these active constituents
Summary
Chemical contamination is a major global issue of food and water safety and quality. Protection of our diet from these hazards should be considered one of the essential public health issues in all countries [1]. Barium (Ba) is an alkaline earth element that oxidized if exposed to air. It is present as Ba2+ ion in surface and ground water and mainly derived from rock and minerals. World widely drinking water contaminated with Ba became an important public health problem. The amount of Ba concentration in drinking water in different countries was reached 1 μg–500 μg/l. The daily intake of Ba from drinking water daily is 2–1200 μg. Ba chloride (BaCl2) is used in pigments industry, glass and ceramics, refining aluminum, tanning leather, photographic paper, and boiler compounds for water softening [2]
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