Popcorn and antioxidants

The popcorn you have at the movies may be healthier than we all thought. At a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society evidence was presented showing that cereal based snacks like popcorn are high in antioxidants known as polyphenols.

“We found that, in fact, whole grain products have comparable antioxidants per gram to fruits and vegetables,” said lead researcher Joe Vinson, a chemist at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. “Early researchers thought the fibre was the active ingredient for these benefits in whole grains, the reason why they may reduce the risk of cancer and coronary heart disease. But recently, polyphenols emerged as potentially more important.”

These findings support the recognised health benefits of whole grain cereals. Oats were found to have the highest antioxidant content, followed by corn and then wheat.

Within the snackfood industry, popcorn has been found to have five times more antioxidant than it’s nearest rival. On investigation, it was found that baking and processing reduced the amount of antioxidants in finished goods, as an example tortilla / corn chips have ten times less antioxidants that popcorn because of the alkaline treatment during processing.
The study was funded by the University of Scranton.