Abstract
Plant-based foods containing phenolic bioactives have human health protective functions relevant for combating diet and lifestyle-influenced chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). The molecular structural features of dietary phenolic bioactives allow antioxidant functions relevant for countering chronic oxidative stress-induced metabolic breakdown commonly associated with T2D. In addition to antioxidant properties, phenolic bioactives of diverse plant foods have therapeutic functional activities such as improving insulin sensitivity, reducing hepatic glucose output, inhibiting activity of key carbohydrate digestive enzymes, and modulating absorption of glucose in the bloodstream, thereby subsequently improving post-prandial glycemic control. These therapeutic functional properties have direct implications and benefits in the dietary management of T2D. Therefore, plant-based foods that are rich in phenolic bioactives are excellent dietary sources of therapeutic targets to improve overall glycemic control by managing chronic hyperglycemia and chronic oxidative stress, which are major contributing factors to T2D pathogenesis. However, in studies with diverse array of plant-based foods, concentration and composition of phenolic bioactives and their glycemic control relevant bioactivity can vary widely between different plant species, plant parts, and among different varieties/genotypes due to the different environmental and growing conditions, post-harvest storage, and food processing steps. This has allowed advances in innovative strategies to screen and optimize whole and processed plant derived foods and their ingredients based on their phenolic bioactive linked antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic properties for their effective integration into T2D focused dietary solutions. In this review, different pre-harvest and post-harvest strategies and factors that influence phenolic bioactive-linked antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic properties in diverse plant derived foods and derivation of extracts with therapeutic potential are highlighted and discussed. Additionally, novel bioprocessing strategies to enhance bioavailability and bioactivity of phenolics in plant-derived foods targeting optimum glycemic control and associated T2D therapeutic benefits are also advanced.
Highlights
Reviewed by: Zhifeng Xue, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Zihao Chen, National University of Singapore Suzhou Research Institute, China
Among health protective and health promoting bioactives, stress-inducible phenolic bioactives of plant foods are drawing wider attention in advancing healthy dietary strategies based on their diverse functional properties like antioxidant, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hypertensive, anti-dyslipidemic, and gut health benefits
It is necessary to screen and optimize phenolic bioactive content, composition, and functional qualities of plant food sources across farm to fork food chain to incorporate them in health targeted food applications
Summary
The major aim of this review is to examine the role of plant food sources from different ecological origins with high health protective bioactive metabolites, anti-diabetic functional role of phenolics, for countering chronic oxidative stress, chronic hyperglycemia, and for improving human digestive health, which are essential preventative measures to reduce the risks of developing T2D. Understanding and optimizing different food sources and processing variables is essential to effectively integrate them into dietary and therapeutic interventions targeting T2D prevention and its management Such T2D benefits targeted optimization can be achieved through identification of key nutritional biomarkers and functional bioactive components of plant foods that have the potential to modulate carbohydrate metabolism which are beneficial in maintaining cellular glucose homeostasis, redox homeostasis, and for improving human gut health.
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