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Polyphenolic compounds (particularly anthocyanins, proanthocyanidins, and other flavonoids) from some fruits and vegetables have significant and diverse impacts on human health preservation. While it's well recognized that some of the polyphenolics in foods we consume have a protective and proactive role against disease, very little has been known about how they accomplish this feat. A range of bioassays (in vitro and in laboratory animals) were adapted to examine compounds extracted from berry fruits, and separated into distinct fractions by vacuum chromatography. The proanthocyanidin class of compounds, as well as mixtures of proanthocyanidins and other flavonoids, were significantly bioactive against both the promotion and initiation stages of chemically-induced carcinogenesis. Potent antioxidant activity was not confined to particular fractions, but was present in several classes of compounds. Identification and characterization of the bioflavonoids is complicated both by apparent interactions between related compounds that occur together within horticultural fruits, and interferences from some substances (pectins and complex sugars) that depress observed response in bioactivity assays.