## 4 Discussion  
In the last decade, functional foods have been extensively studied, with the application of in vitro methods, for the determination of their total antioxidant capacity and phenolic content, as well as the quantification of their specific bioactive compounds. In the present study, we evaluated the total antioxidant and phenolic content of blueberries, cranberries, pomergnates, grapefruits, red peppers, almonds, and mountain tea. Among them, moun \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Pearson Correlation**} & **BMI** \\ \hline Blueberries & R & \(-\)0.010 \\  & \(p\) & 0.839 \\ \hline Cranberries & R & \(-\)0.310 * \\  & \(p\) & 0.000 \\ \hline Pomergnates & R & \(-\)0.190 * \\  & \(p\) & 0.000 \\ \hline Grapefruits & R & \(-\)0.179 * \\  & \(p\) & 0.000 \\ \hline Red Peppers & R & \(-\)0.134 * \\  & \(p\) & 0.007 \\ \hline Almonds & R & \(-\)0.007 \\  & \(p\) & 0.887 \\ \hline Mountain Tea & R & \(-\)0.167 * \\  & \(p\) & 0.000 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Association of functional foods consumption with Body Mass Index (BMI) of the participants. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & & **Price** & **Taste** & **Package** & **Brand** & **Health Benefits** & **Nutritional Value** \\ \hline Male & Not at all & 9.7\% & 8.1\% & 49.0\% & 44.1\% & 6.1\% & 4.9\% \\ (n = 247) & Neutral & 38.5\% & 40.9\% & 39.7\% & 38.9\% & 17.4\% & 19.0\% \\  & much & 51.8\% & 51.0\% & 11.3\% & 17.0\% & 76.5\% & 76.1\% \\ \hline Female & Not at all & 8.3\% & 5.3\% & 47.5\% & 39.9\% & 4.3\% & 2.6\% \\ (n = 303) & Neutral & 33.7\% & 28.1\% & 39.9\% & 43.2\% & 16.5\% & 20.8\% \\  & much & 57.8\% & 66.7\% & 12.5\% & 16.8\% & 79.2\% & 76.6\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: % Percentages of participants regarding how (not at all, neutral, much) price, taste, package, brand, reported health benefits and nutritional value affects their functional food purchasing choices. tain tea and almonds had the highest values for total phenolics; mountain tea additionally exerted the highest values of total antioxidant capacity. Previously published studies on the determination of the antioxidant and total phenolic content of the above-studied foods, however, presented a wide range of values. This may be due to differences in the extraction method during sample preparation, differences in the variety of the analyzed sample [57], as well as differences in the climatic and soil conditions [58] and therefore the origin of the samples. Recent studies suggest, that foods high in antioxidants over the range of 0.87 mmol Fe\({}^{2+}\)/g of dry sample can be used for the fortification of yogurt [59] and can increase the concentration of total antioxidant compounds of the final product [60]. Therefore, we can assume that mountain tea, almonds, blueberries, and pomegranates cultivated in Southern Greece can be used as a potential source of antioxidants, either by consuming them as a whole or in the form of extracts for the enrichment of foods, that present benefits to human health. Epidemiological, as well as interventional studies, support the association between the consumption of foods rich in antioxidants and phenolic compounds with weight control [10; 61]. Aiming to investigate this hypothesis, the consumption of the above investigated functional foods was evaluated in terms of their association with the BMI of the consumers. The selected functional foods are usually consumed as part of the Mediterranean diet and they have previously been correlated with a possible role in obesity prevention [10]. Indeed, frequency of consumption showed an association with the BMI of the people that habitually consumed them. More specifically, participants that were frequently consuming cranberries, pomegranates, graprefruits, red peppers, or mountain tea, were observed to have lower BMI values.