Purpose This review aims to compare the magnitude of the effects of chronic consumption of fruits; specifically berries, citrus and cherries on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. Methods PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and psycARTICLES were searched from inception until January 2020. Fortyfive chronic (≥ 1 week) randomised controlled trials assessing CVD risk factors including endothelial (dys)function, blood pressure (BP), blood lipids and inflammatory biomarkers were included. Results Investigated interventions reported improvements in endothelial function (n = 8), inflammatory biomarkers and lipid status (n = 14), and BP (n = 10). Berries including juice of barberry, cranberry, grape, pomegranate, powder of blueberry, grape, raspberry and freeze-dried strawberry significantly reduced SBP by 3.68 mmHg (95% CI − 6.79 to − 0.58; P = 0.02) and DBP by 1.52 mmHg (95% CI − 2.87 to − 0.18, P = 0.04). In subgroup analysis, these associations were limited to cranberry juice (SBP by 1.52 mmHg [95% CI − 2.97 to − 0.07; P = 0.05], DBP by 1.78 mmHg [95% CI − 3.43 to − 0.12, P = 0.04] and cherry juice (SBP by 3.11 mmHg [95% CI − 4.06 to − 2.15; P = 0.02]). Berries also significantly elevated sVCAM-1 levels by 14.57 ng/mL (85% CI 4.22 to 24.93; P = 0.02). Conclusion These findings suggest that supplementing cranberry or cherry juice might contribute to an improvement in blood pressure. No other significant improvements were observed for other specified fruits. More research is warranted comparing different classes of fruit and exploring the importance of fruit processing on their cardiovascular-protective effects.

Blueberries are rich in polyphenols, and their effect on cardiovascular health, including risk factors for endothelial dysfunction and hypertension, has been investigated in interventional studies. However, the difference between blueberry treatments in varied forms for their cardiovascular-protective effect remains poorly understood. The current study assessed the effects of whole blueberry and freeze-dried blueberry powder compared to a control on cardiovascular health in young adults. A cross-over randomised controlled trial (RCT) was implemented with 1 week of treatment for three treatment groups, each followed by 1 week of wash out period. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse wave velocity (PWV), plasma cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and total cholesterol) and triglyceride levels (TAG), and glucose and nitrite (NO2-) concentrations were compared following fresh blueberry, freeze-dried blueberry powder, and control treatments. Thirty-seven participants with a mean age of 25.86 ± 6.81 completed the study. No significant difference was observed among fresh blueberry, blueberry powder, and the control arm. Plasma NO2- levels were improved by 68.66% and 4.34% separately following whole blueberry and blueberry powder supplementations compared to the baseline, whereas the control supplementation reported a decrease (−9.10%), although it was not statistically significant. There were no other effects shown for SBP, DBP, total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, TAG, or glucose. No difference was shown between whole blueberry and freeze-dried blueberry powder consumption for improving cardiovascular health.