New York: Regular consumption of apples, bananas and oranges can protect the brain from damage and also improve memory, suggests a new study by American and South Korean scientists.

These fruits are important sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre. Of the three, apples appeared to contain the most antioxidants, followed by bananas and oranges, the study found.

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Scientists at Cornell University, New York, and their colleagues from several universities in South Korea exposed cancer cells to phenolics - a class of chemical compounds extracted from the three fruits, health portal Medical News Today reported.

The scientists then put the cells under oxidative stress - a general term used to describe the damage in a cell, tissue or organ caused by reactive oxygen species.

The researchers discovered that the chemical of the fruits had prevented a significant proportion of cells from succumbing to damage from oxidative stress, with varying degrees of success.