Australian scientists are suggesting that grape seeds may be a potential treatment in warding off Alzheimer's disease.
The scientists at Flinders University have found that adding grape seed extract to the diet prevented the formation of deposits of amyloid proteins in the brain.
The discovery was made by a team of medical scientists in the Department of Human Physiology, headed by Professor Xin-Fu Zhou, in trials with mice.
Professor Zhou says the over-production of amyloid-beta proteins, or the body's failure to degrade them, leads to the formation of clumps or snarls in the brain and is a major cause of Alzheimer's disease and this aggregation of amyloid causes the loss of nerve connections, cell death and inflammation in the brain, leading to cognitive decline.
Professor Zhou says many fruits and vegetables contain polyphenols which are complex molecules with anti-oxidant properties and some have already been identified as a possible method for reducing amyloid deposition.
The Flinders team along with researchers from CSIRO, chose to experiment with the polyphenol extract from grape seeds, a resource which is particularly abundant in South Australia.
Lead researcher Dr. Yanjiang Wang says that moderate wine consumption is already recommended to prevent Alzheimer's disease, but since the disease mainly afflicts elderly people, many of whom cannot or will not drink alcohol, grape seed extract is a better choice to prevent the disease.