Abstract
The control of glucose homeostasis is the main goal for both the prevention and management of diabetes and pre-diabetes. Numerous drugs are available, despite their side effects. This is constantly leading people to be inclined to natural alternative treatments. Evidence indicates antioxidant-based nutraceuticals as an optimal tool for the glycaemic control. Currently, a great interest has been focused on the valorisation of agro-food by-products as sources of bioactive compounds including polyphenols. In this sense, we tested the efficacy of novel nutraceutical products based on polyphenolic extract from nectarines (NecP), tomato peels (TP), and olive leaves (EOL) on glycaemic and insulinemic responses. The three formulations contained, respectively, 0.007 mg abscisic acid (ABA)/g, 0.5 mg carotenoids/g, and 150 mg oleuropein/g. Twenty healthy subjects consumed a regular glucose solution (RG) or a treatment beverage (TB) obtained by mixing RG with the individual formulations (TB NecP, TB EOL, and TB TP), separately, and on different days. All three formulations significantly lowered the 30 min glucose plasma peak (p < 0.05 for all); similarly, NecP and TP also significantly lowered the 30 min insulin plasma peak (p < 0.05 for all). These results may lead to the hypothesis of a formulation of a multi-component nutraceutical with a synergistic efficacy for the glycaemic control.
Highlights
A wide range of natural substances of plant origin, polyphenols, carotenoids, and terpenoids [1,2,3,4,5] have been demonstrated to be active on glycaemia in humans
Agro-food waste products are increasingly attracting a great interest from the nutraceutical industry, since they represent still rich sources of bioactive compounds which can be conveniently recovered for the formulation of food supplements indicated for the control of glycaemia
The first aim of the present work was to formulate pilot nutraceutical products based on a water extract of unripe fruits derived from fruit thinning; ethanol extract from olive leaves (EOL); and dried tomato peel powder (TP)
Summary
A wide range of natural substances of plant origin, polyphenols, carotenoids, and terpenoids [1,2,3,4,5] have been demonstrated to be active on glycaemia in humans. It is generally applied to a specific range of tree fruits, including apples, pears, plums, peaches, and nectarines, and consists of leaving a minimum of one fruit every 5–8 cm (plums and apricots) to a maximum of one fruit every 10–15 cm (apples and pears) and 20–25 cm (peaches and nectarines) on tree branches [6] Since this practice may interest up to 40% of the entire tree fruit load, fruit thinning may lead to a massive agricultural waste product which is generally destined to fertilising or feeding. These waste fruits are supposed to be a significant source of abscisic acid (ABA). Studies have revealed that there is a progressive accumulation of ABA during fruit ripening, reaching its maximum concentration at a specific stage after full bloom and decreasing to its minimum level at the fruit fully ripe/harvest stage [10,11,12,13,14]
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