Celery, the Potential Functional Food For the Prevention and Treatment of Diseases Associated with Oxidative Stress

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a functional food for the prevention and treatment of the diseases associated with oxidative stress, according to the studies.

Celery is a species of Apium graveolens, belonging to the family Apiaceae. It is cultivated all around the globe as a vegetable.

Celery can grow to 1/2 m tall with stalks (leaf on the top) arranging in a conical shape joined at a common base.

Oxidative stress is a condition caused by long-term overexpression of free radicals in the body.

In other words, oxidative stress is a result of the imbalance of the ratio of free radicals and antioxidant enzymes produced by the host.

Free radicals are unstable atoms with an unpaired electron in the outer ring. In order for them to become stable, they must either donate or steal an electron from the stable atoms. These actions lead to a chain reaction which can not be stopped until all free radicals outer ring electron is paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

Antioxidants are stable atoms which inhibited oxidation. there are 2 types of antioxidant in our body. The antioxidant enzymes which are produced by the host body and dietary antioxidants which is come from food intake.

Epidemiological studies strongly suggested that oxidative stress not only can cause damage to the proteins, lipid, and cells but also can alternate the cell DNA, leading to a number of chronic ailments, including cancers.

Diseases associated with oxidative stress are atherosclerosis, cancer, inflammatory joint disease, asthma, diabetes, senile dementia, and degenerative eye disease.

We can not stop free radical from entering into our body as they present in nature in different forms, including fried foods, alcohol, tobacco smoke, pesticides, air pollutants, and many more, however, we can neutralize them by eating a healthy diet with more antioxidants and less free radical products.

With an aim to find a natural ingredient or whole food for the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress, researchers investigated the effects of flavonoid extracts from celery on oxidative stress induced by dichlorvos (DIC) in male Wistar rats maintained on a normal diet.

The rats selected to the study were given DIC through intragastric administration by the dose of 7.2 mg/kg·body weight (BW)/day and additionally added 5% flavonoid extracts to the diet for 4 weeks continuously.

Before injecting flavonoid extract rats treated with DIC demonstrated a significant decrease of antioxidant enzymes produced by the host and increased oxidative stress markers.

Application of 5% flavonoid extracts increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and decreased the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) in livers of rats.

The activities of SOD, GST, and CAT in the DIC-treated group declined significantly when compared with the flavonoid extracts group and the DIC + flavonoid extracts group, respectively. 

These results suggested that the protective role of flavonoids in minimizing oxidative stress caused by the harmful effects of DIC during the exposure.

Futhermore, in order to understand the protective role of celery extract, researchers launched an investigation to assess the celery leaves and roots in the ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water against oxidative stress.

In vitro, crude methanol extracts displayed potential scavengers of free OH* and DPPH* radicals, as well as inhibitors of liposomal peroxidation (LPx).

In vivo experiments, the extract also improved the antioxidant systems (activities of GSHPx, GSHR, Px, CAT, XOD, GSH content and intensity of LPx) in the liver.

The extracts bioactive compound the n-butanol showed the highest protective effect.

Dr. Popović M, the lead author said, "The differences observed in the action of particular extracts are probably due to the different contents of flavonoids and some other antioxidant compound".

Taken altogether, celery with abundant bioactive compounds may be considered a functional food for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with the oxidative stress.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
References

(1) Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of common vegetables by Chu YF1, Sun J, Wu X, Liu RH. (PubMed)
(2) Influence of flavonoid extracts from celery on oxidative stress induced by dichlorvos in rats.
Cao J1, Zhang X, Wang Q, Jia L, Zhang Y, Zhao X.(PubMed)
(3) Effect of celery (Apium graveolens) extracts on some biochemical parameters of oxidative stress in mice treated with carbon tetrachloride by Popović M1, Kaurinović B, Trivić S, Mimica-Dukić N, Bursać M.(PubMed)
(4) Essential oil composition and antiradical activity of the oil of Iraq plants by Kiralan M1, Bayrak A, Abdulaziz OF, Ozbucak T.(PubMed)