Cranberries can ward off infections and stop E.coli in its tracks, new research has found.
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in the US have found that compounds in the fruit are able to alter E. coli bacteria in ways that render them unable to start an infection.
The research, led by Terri Camesano, associate professor of chemical engineering at WPI, has underlined a number of health benefits that have long been ascribed to cranberries and cranberry juice - in particular, the ability of cranberry juice to prevent urinary tract infections.
Scientists have suspected that compounds in the juice somehow prevent bacteria from adhering to the lining of the urinary tract.
Camesano and her students have studied how a group of tannins found primarily in cranberries, called proanthocyanidins, interact with bacteria at molecular level.
They found that the compounds prevent E. coli from adhering to cells in the body.
The study aims to assess the minimum effective dose of cranberry juice, or tannins, and the optimum frequency to ward off infections.
Camesano said her work to date indicates that the benefits increase the more juice or cranberry products consumed.
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