Lentil’s (Lens Culinaris L.) Functional Properties in Prevention and Treatment of Non-Communicable Chronic Diseases: A Review

Abstract

Background: using functional food in diet planning and diet therapy is one of the newest approaches in prevention and treatment of non-communicable chronic diseases. Lentil has many bioactive and functional compounds and we have reviewed the influence of lentil in prevention and treatment of chronic diseases in this review study. Materials and methods: In order to do search about mentioned objective key words including Lentils (Lens culinarisL.), functional foods, bioactive peptides, nutritional value, health polyphenol in combination with glycemic index (GI), insulin resistance, diabetes, cancer and hypertension, the sources in PubMed database were examined in the years between1986-2013. Key words such as lentils (Lens culinarisL.), functional foods, bioactive peptides, nutritional value, diabetes, cancer and hypertension were studied with access to Persian sources of Scientific Information Database (SID). Cell studies, animal models, clinical studies and review articles were used with favorable quality. Results: Lentils are rich sources of fibers, resistant starches, prebiotic compounds, phytochemicals, proteins and bioactive peptides, phenolic acids and antioxidants. Lentil has the highest total antioxidant capacity among other foods including apples, dates, raspberries, cherries, figs, oranges, garlic, cabbage and peanuts. High content of fibers and other phytochemicals are found in lentils that could improve glycemic response in diabetic patients, lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and weight management. Lentils may have favorable effects in prevention of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) prevalence. Conclusion: Increased dietary intake of lentils is considered as an important key in prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, especially type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and cancer diseases.