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Health benefits of pear (1021.13)
Author(s) -
Reiland Holly,
Slavin Joanne
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.1021.13
Subject(s) - pear , health benefits , sugar , fruit juice , consumption (sociology) , fructose , medicine , biology , food science , toxicology , horticulture , traditional medicine , social science , sociology
Fruit consumption is universally promoted, yet consumption of fruit remains low in the US. The genus Pyrus L. consists of species of pears cultivated in Europe, parts of Asia, South America and North America. The goal of this work was to conduct a systematic review of the health outcomes associated with pear consumption. We conducted a systematic review on pear consumption and health outcomes searching both PubMed and Agricola from 1970 – present. Like most fruit, pears are concentrated in water and sugar. Pears are high in dietary fiber, containing 6 grams per serving. Like apples, pears are concentrated in fructose and high fiber and fructose in pears probably explain the laxative properties. Pears contain antioxidants and provide between 27 and 41 mg of phenolics per 100 grams. Animal studies with pears suggest that pears may regulate alcohol metabolism, protect again ulcers, and lower plasma lipids. Pears consumption is generally low, making it difficult to determine whether pear consumption is linked to health outcomes in observational studies. Additionally, human feeding studies with pears have not been conducted. Most existing literature suggests that pears play an important role in gut health and deserve further study.