## 4 Health Benefits and Composition of Kiwi By-Products
### Health-Promoting Properties of Kiwi Fruit-Based Nutraceuticals
The higher dose of ellagic acid administered acutely, and both doses administered chronically, significantly delayed the onset of convulsions, reduced the duration of clonic and tonic convulsions, and decreased mortality compared to the control groups treated with pentylenetetrazole and picrotoxin. Ellagic acid also reversed the decrease in brain GABA levels induced by pentylenetetrazole and picrotoxin. Acute and chronic administration of diazep showed excellent anticonvulsant activity and increased brain GABA levels. These findings indicate that ellagic acid possesses significant antiepileptic activity in mice, likely mediated through the enhancement of GABAergic transmission in the brain [84]. Kiwi is rich in vitamin C, which has been linked with greater feelings of vitality. Kiwi fruit was tested in order to find whether the properties of vitamin C are effective. Young adults with a plasma vitamin C \(<40\) umol/L were assigned to three conditions: kiwi fruit, vitamin C, or the placebo. The trial consisted of a 2-week lead-in, a 4-week intervention, and a 2-week washout. Plasma vitamin C levels were saturated within two weeks for both the kiwi fruit and vitamin C groups. Participants who consumed the kiwi fruit exhibited a trend of improvement in mood disturbance, considerably decreased fatigue, and radically improved well-being after two weeks of the intervention. Advances in well-being remained elevated through the washout. Participants who consumed vitamin C tablets showed improvement in their well-being after two weeks. The participants with low vitamin C levels from the start showed improved mood and less fatigue. It was also found that subjects who ate kiwi fruit did not gain fat during the study. No changes were reported in the placebo group. Kiwi fruit consumption ameliorated vitality in adults with low vitamin C status. Vitamin C tablets performed similarly, but not as efficiently as the kiwi fruit, indicating that the fruit has more beneficial properties Analogous results were found in a similar study from the same authors [85; 86]. The cardioprotective effect of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in male albino Wistar rats was studied. ISO-induced myocardial damage was indicated by the elevated levels of marker enzymes, such as creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and cardiac troponin T and I (CTnT, cTnI) in serum. The levels of lipid peroxidation products, such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARSs), conjugated dienes (CDs), and lipid hydroperoxides (LHPs), rose remarkably in the plasma and heart tissue. Enzymatic antioxidants like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione-S-transferase (GST), as well as the non-enzymatic antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E, and reduced glutathione (GSH), experienced a decline in activity, as seen in the erythrocytes, plasma, and heart tissue of the ISO-induced rats, suggested by the myocardium infarct size staining with triphenyltetrazolzolium chloride (TTC). Thus, orally administered CGA at different doses for 19 days was found to be beneficial, for the reasons stated above [87]. The positive effects of vitamin C and E on oxidative stress in women with endometriosis were measured through a clinical trial, as well. Sixty women of reproductive age with pelvic pain and laparoscopic-proven endometriosis from stages 1-3 were studied. Half of the participants were given vitamin C and vitamin B, and the other half were given placebo pills, daily for 8 weeks. Subjects who took the vitamins showed a decrease in MDA and ROS in comparison with the placebo treatment. No significant decline in the total antioxidant capacity was found. Nevertheless, the severity of the pelvic pain was improved, as well as dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia after 8 weeks of the vitamin intake. These results support the potential role of antioxidants in the management of endometriosis [88].