A team of Italian and Spanish researchers found that strawberry extracts have photopreotective properties and when added to skin cell cultures they can act as a protector against ultraviolet radiation.
The team prepared human skin cell cultures (fibroblasts) and added strawberry extract in different concentrations (0.05, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/ml), the only exception being the control extract.
Using ultraviolet light, the samples were then exposed to a dose "equivalent to 90 minutes of midday summer sun in the French Riviera".
Data confirmed that the strawberry extract, especially at a concentration of 0.5 mg/ml, displays photoprotective properties in those fibroblasts exposed to UVA radiation, it increases cell survival and viability and decreases damage in the DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid when compared with control cells.
"We have verified the protecting effect of strawberry extract against damage to skins cells caused by UVA rays," Maurizio Battino from the Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Italy and lead author, said.
"These aspects are of great importance as they provide protection for cell lines subject to conditions that can provoke cancer and other skin-related inflammatory and degenerative illnesses," Battino said in a statement.
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This is the first step in determining the beneficial effects of strawberries in our diet or as a possible compound source for 'food integrators' or cosmetics for instance, the researchers said.
Scientists believe that strawberry could get its photoprotective properties from anthocyanins, which are pigments that give leaves, flowers and fruits their red colour.
"These compounds have important anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tumour properties and are capable of modulating enzymatic processes," Sara Tulipani from the University of Barcelona, said.
"We have not yet found a direct relationship between their presence and photoprotective properties," she added.
The study was published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry.