Vegetables are products and raw material for functional nutrition

Abstract

In this review the data on the content of the most common biologically active substances in vegetable crops are presented. The emphasis has been given on the breeding of vegetable crops with a high content of biologically active substances, which can be used whether as a product or as raw material for functional nutrition. The varietal specificity of vegetable crops for capacity to accumulate the substances with antioxidant activity is shown. In the VNIISSOK, the onion varieties («cherniy princ», «azelros», «alba», «ranniy rosoviy», «alvina» and «delikates») with 1.92-2.33 % of falavonoids were developed. The anthocyan content in the eggplant fruits is 0.021-0.217 g/kg. The hot pepper varieties «volshebniy buket», «ognennaya deva», «chudo Podmoscovia», «ognennyy vulkan», and «viziry» are good sources of vitamin C (2652 mg/100 g of dry mass), capsaicin (47 mg/100 g of dry mass), and total dry matter (18.4%). From the cultivars of paprika «mayak» and «udalets» the dry powder was obtained, which can be used as functional food with high antioxidant activity due to supplementation with selenium. This dry powder has a protection against tumor growth of carcinoma when it was added in mouse diet. The pumpkin varieties «rossiyanka», «konfetka», «premiera», and «Olga» are characterized by high content of carotenoids (21-27.1 mg/100 g). The tomato varieties «malinka» and «lotos» are sources of lycopene (31.4-32.3 mg/100 g of dry mass).