Table 3.

The effect of fruits on plasma concentration of small dense low density lipoprotein (LDL), LDL particle number, and LDL particle size

Author, Year	Intervention	Dose per day	Treatment duration	Subjects	Method of assessment	Main outcomes	Final effects of specific diet ingredients or nutraceuticals on LDL (number, size and concentration)
Galletti et al. 2019 [84]	Armolipid Plus® (AP)	AP; berberine 500 mg, red yeast rice, monacolin K 3 mg and policosanol 10 mg	24 weeks	147 metabolic syndrome patients	Electrophoretic mobility	Significant elevations in sdLDL-C size (+ 1 Å) after taking AP tablet compared with baseline.	LDL particle size ↑
Wang et al. 2015 [76]	Avocado diet (AV) Lower-fat diet (LF) Moderate-fat diet (MF)	AV; fresh Hass avocado (136 g/d) or LF; 59% carbohydrate, 16% protein, 24% fat, 7% saturated fat or MF; 49% carbohydrate, 16% protein, 34% fat, 6% saturated fat	5 weeks	45 overweight or obese subjects with baseline LDL-C	NMR spectroscopy	LDL particle number (− 80.1 nmol/L), small dense LDL cholesterol (− 4.1 mg/dL) were significantly lower in AV diet compared with baseline. LDL particle size was reduced in all diets, LF (− 0.24 nm), MF (− 0.21 nm), and AV (− 0.12 nm) but compared with the LF diet, AV diet led to significant rise in LDL particle size (+ 0.12 nm).	Small dense LDL ↓ LDL particle number ↓
Park et al. 2018 [77]	Avocado (Half-A), Avocado (Whole-A), Control	Half-A; 68 g, Whole-A; 136 g, Control; 0 g	6 h postprandial	31 overweight or obese subjects	NMR	After consumed whole avocado, small dense LDL particles significantly reduced (36.8 nmol/l) in compared with control.	Small dense LDL ↓
Basu et al. 2010 [78]	Strawberries	50 g freeze-dried strawberries or 3 cups fresh strawberries	8 weeks	27 subjects with metabolic syndrome	NMR	Strawberry supplementation led to significant reduction in concentration of small LDL particles (14%), this change was significant differences between control and intervention groups. LDL mean particle size was not significantly varied between two groups.	Small dense LDL ↓ LDL particle size —
Basu et al. 2014 [79]	LD-FDS, LD-C, HD-FDS, HD-C	LD-FDS; 25 g/d strawberries, LD-C; 4 g fiber + 20 g cane sugar HD-FDS; 50 g/d strawberries, HD-C; 8 g fiber + 36 g cane sugar	12 weeks	60 subjects with elevated lipid profiles	NMR	HD-FDS diet significantly decreased small LDL particles (− 323 ± 16 nmol/l) compared with HD-C diet. Furthermore, the change was statistically significant compared to the LD-FDS.	Small dense LDL ↓
Zunino et al. 2011 [80]	Strawberry powder	320 g/day frozen strawberries	3 weeks	20 obese subjects	NMR	LDL particle size significantly increased (+ 0.43 ± 0.08 nm) in intervention group in comparison to the control group.	LDL particle size ↑
Zunino et al. 2014 [81]	Grape powder	46 g grape powder	3 weeks	24 obese subjects	NMR	Grape diets had no effect on small LDL and LDL size.	Small dense LDL — LDL particle size —
Toth et al. 2016 [82]	Bergavit®	150 mg/d of flavonoids, with 16% of neoeriocitrin, 47% of neohesperidin and 37% of naringin	6 months	80 subjects with moderate hypercholesterolemia	Gel electrophoresis	Bergavit supplementation significantly reduced small dense LDL-3, − 4, and 5 particles (− 38, − 53%, − 67%, respectively) than baseline.	Small dense LDL ↓
Gliozzi et al. 2014 [83]	BPF	1300 mg/day	120 days	107 subjects with metabolic syndrome and NAFLD	NMR Spectroscopy	Small dense LDL particles significantly reduced (− 374 ± 7 nmol/l) after 120 days intervention than baseline.	Small dense LDL ↓

sdLDL small dense Low-Density Lipoprotein, HDL-C High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, LDL-C Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, NAFLD Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance, FO Flaxseed oil, AP Armolipid Plus®, AV Avocado diet, LF Lower-fat diet, MF Moderate-fat diet, LD-FDS Low-dose freeze-dried strawberries, LD-C Low-dose control, HD-FDS High-dose freeze-dried strawberries, HD-C High-dose control, BPF Bergamot polyphenolic fraction, nmol/l. nanomoles per litre, nm nanometer, Å Angstrom