Ellagitannins in food

Plants with high concentrations of ellagitannins have been attributed to a variety of health benefits and they are important contributors to color, flavor and stability of many foods.

Strawberries, blackberries, cranberries walnuts, and pecans are particularly good source of the polyphenol compound ellagic acid that the hydrolysis product of ellagitannins.

Ellagitannins are polyphenol naturally occurring water-soluble tannins found in many plant foods (including grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and some nuts) and in oak-aged red wines.

Anti-carcinogenicity of ellagitannins and their metabolite ellagic acid has been shown along with induction of apoptosis in some cancer cells.

Canning, pureeing, and freezing had little effect on ellagitannins, but processing berries into non-clarified and clarified juices resulted in total ellagitannin losses of 70 and 82% respectively, due to removal of ellagitannin rich seeds in the presscake.
Ellagitannins in food