Rutin is a nutritional bioflavonoid that plays an important role in giving vegetables their color and flavor. Pure rutin is a needle-shaped crystal, the colors of which are yellow or greenish-yellow. Since people's bodies cannot manufacture bioflavonoids, we must consume sufficient amounts of these nutrients from food. Ingestion of rutin in foods has many health benefits. Rutin enhances the potency of vitamin C, improves eye health, strengthens capillaries, energizes our circulation system and acts as an antioxidant. Rutin also has anti-inflammatory qualities, improves circulation and may decrease the intensity of our blood cholesterol.
Fruits
All citrus fruits, including oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, limes and lemons, are high in rutin, one of the bioflavonoids -- nutrients with antioxidant activity -- that have powerful antioxidant properties. A bioflavonoid is one of a group of water-soluble plant pigments called flavonoids that our bodies need to absorb vitamin C. Bioflavonoids work synergistically with vitamin C to maximize its benefits. Citrus rinds, pulp and skin also contain an abundance of rutin.
Rutin is found in a variety of other fruits, including blackberries, mulberries and bilberries. Cherries, apricots, tomatoes, grapes, plums, currants and prunes, as well as red apples and their peels, are rutin-rich. Flavonoids such as rutin effectively neutralize the free radicals, unstable molecules our bodies produce that are responsible for many human ailments.
Buckwheat and Nuts
The richest source of rutin is buckwheat. The amount of rutin in buckwheat products such as noodles is much less than the rutin in dark buckwheat flour and buckwheat leaf flour from which buckwheat products are produced. Raw buckwheat has a much greater amount of rutin than cooked, and one possible explanation is the existence of an enzyme that degrades rutin during the cooking process. The medical field has shown interest in pursuing research on buckwheat as a source of rutin. Eating buckwheat may contribute to treatment for capillary weakness associated with people who have hypertension. Some nuts also contain rutin.
Herbs And Teas
Rutin and its bioflavonoid benefits are available in many plants. Herbal plants such as chervil, horsetail, hawthorn berry and elderberry are excellent sources of rutin, as are rose hips, commonly used in teas. Black teas and green teas contain rutin and provide bioflavonoid and antioxidant benefits. The concentration of rutin is also very high in rooibos tea. Rutin is a nutrient that helps inhibit the histamines that trigger allergic reactions, which may be why drinking tea is often recommended to alleviate the stuffy nose accompanying many colds and allergies.
Vegetables
Rutin-rich vegetables include green and yellow peppers, onions, broccoli and parsley. Asparagus contains highly concentrated amounts of rutin, a nutrient that facilitates circulation to our lower limbs, by increasing the oxygen-transporting capacity of our blood.
