Strawberry extract may help protect skin

Strawberry extract added to skin cell cultures protects against ultraviolet radiation and reduces DNA damage, Italian and Spanish researchers say. Lead author Maurizio Battino of the Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Italy and colleagues said the team prepared human skin cell cultures -- fibroblasts -- and added strawberry extract in different concentrations -- 0.05, 0.25 and 0.5 milligram/milliliter, 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," Battino said. "We have verified the protecting effect of strawberry extract against damage to skins cells caused by UVA rays," Battino said in a statement. "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." The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, found the strawberry extract, especially at the largest dose, displayed photoprotective properties in those fibroblasts exposed to radiation, increased cell survival and viability, and decreased damage in the DNA when compared with control cells.