Bioactive Phytonutrients Research Articles

Recent insight on nutritional value, active phytochemicals, and health‐enhancing characteristics of fig (Ficus craica)

AbstractThe current review highlights the nutritional values, phytochemical profile, and health‐enhancing characteristics of figs (Ficus carica L., family Moraceae). Ficus carica is one of the oldest fruit trees. The fruit has been appreciated as food and for its biomedical properties since ancient times. Ficus carica contains essential bioactive compounds that enhance health. The plant is characterized by unique compounds in all parts (peel, pulp, leaves, seed, and latex) besides primary nutrients (fatty acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals). Ficus carica is rich in bioactive secondary products such as flavonoids, furanocoumarin, anthocyanin, pectin, and phytosterols, contributing to many health benefits. Bioactive phytonutrients found in fig are used as antioxidant and antidiabetic agents due to the presence of specific functional groups that control diabetes. The health‐enhancing effects of fig, including anti‐tumor, anti‐inflammatory, and anti‐osteoporosis, are related to high levels of minerals essential to bone health and their benefits on Alzheimer's disease. All parts of Ficus carica have been used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, especially wound healing. In addition, Ficus carica has many uses in food items as a colorant and a preservative. To the best of knowledge, there is a lack of reports discussing the biochemistry, bioactivity, and medicinal traits of Ficus carica and the plant parts. This review gathered scientific information regarding the chemical profile, biological traits, and different uses of Ficus carica.

Phytonutrients in the promotion of healthspan: a new perspective.

Considering a growing, aging population, the need for interventions to improve the healthspan in aging are tantamount. Diet and nutrition are important determinants of the aging trajectory. Plant-based diets that provide bioactive phytonutrients may contribute to offsetting hallmarks of aging and reducing the risk of chronic disease. Researchers now advocate moving toward a positive model of aging which focuses on the preservation of functional abilities, rather than an emphasis on the absence of disease. This narrative review discusses the modulatory effect of nutrition on aging, with an emphasis on promising phytonutrients, and their potential to influence cellular, organ and functional parameters in aging. The literature is discussed against the backdrop of a recent conceptual framework which describes vitality, intrinsic capacity and expressed capacities in aging. This aims to better elucidate the role of phytonutrients on vitality and intrinsic capacity in aging adults. Such a review contributes to this new scientific perspective-namely-how nutrition might help to preserve functional abilities in aging, rather than purely offsetting the risk of chronic disease.

Screening of lupeol, mangiferin and β-carotene contents in pulp of mango (Mangifera indica L.) varieties at edible ripe stage

Mango fruits are an amazing source of numerous bioactive phytonutrients like lupeol (a novel anti-inflammatory and anticancer dietary triterpene), mangiferin (an antidiabetic, anti-HIV, anticancer, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory agent) and β-carotene (a significant carotenoid that functions as a precursor to vitamin A, the conscientious reason for our vision). In the present study, ripe pulp of 23 mango varieties was examined for their contents of lupeol, mangiferin and β-carotene using high performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector (HPLC-PAD). Mulgoa had the highest lupeol concentration, measuring 42.52 µg/g and Langra stands second with 36.33 µg/g followed by Pairi (33.56 µg/g), Sensation (28.69 µg/g) and Dashehari with 28.22 µg/g. Mangiferin content was highest in variety Arunika (49.58 µg/g) followed by Ambika (34.80 µg/g), Dashehari (33.31 µg/g), Sensation (29.66 µg/g) and Neelum (27.93 µg/g). Sensation's mature pulp has the highest quantity of β-carotene (109.58 µg/g), followed by Kesar (96.87 µg/g), Dashehari (82.13 µg/g), Mulgoa (79.99 µg/g), Arunika (74.26 µg/g), and Amrapali (70.12 µg/g). The pulp of Dashehari, Sensation, Mulgoa, Arunika, Kesar and Amrapali possessed good to moderate amount of these nutraceuticals and are beneficial for consumption at ripe stage. This study has showed the importance of nutraceutical components present in mango; meanwhile it also encourages mango growers to grow these varieties for better profitability.

Antiobesity and Antioxidative Effect of Fermented Brown Rice Using In Vitro with In Vivo Caenorhabditis elegans Model

Naturally occurring phytochemicals from plants or grains are crucial in reducing various metabolic disorders. Bioactive phytonutrients are abundant in the Asian dietary staple, brown rice. This research evaluated the impact of lactic acid bacteria (LABs) bioconversion and fermentation on antioxidant and antiobesity activities and ferulic acid content in brown rice. The combination of bioconversion with Pediococcus acidilactici MNL5 among all LABs used showed a synergistic impact with 24 h of solid-state brown rice fermentation. The 24-h MNL5 fermented brown rice (FBR) demonstrated the most potent pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity (85.5 ± 1.25%) compared to raw brown rice (RBR) (54.4 ± 0.86%). The antioxidant potential of MNL5-FBR was also found to be highest in the DPPH assay (124.40 ± 2.40 mg Trolox Equiv./100 g, DW), ABTS assay (130.52 ± 2.32 mg Trolox Equiv./100 g, DW), and FRAP assay (116.16 ± 2.42 mg Trolox Equiv./100 g, DW). Based on higher antioxidant and antiobesity activities, samples were quantified for ferulic acid content using the HPLC-MS/MS approach. Furthermore, C. elegans supplementation with FBR showed enhanced life span and lipid reduction in fluorescence microscope analysis compared to the control. Our results indicate that the expression study using the C. elegans model (N2 and Daf-2 models) fat gene was conducted, showing a lowering of obesity ability in FBR-fed worms. Our study indicates that FBR has improved antioxidant and antiobesity actions, especially in MNL5-FBR, and can be employed to develop functional foods that combat obesity.

Garlic-Derived Organosulfur Compounds Regulate Metabolic and Immune Pathways in Macrophages and Attenuate Intestinal Inflammation in Mice.

Scope: Garlic is a source of bioactive phytonutrients that may have anti‐inflammatory or immunomodulatory properties. The mechanism(s) underlying the bioactivity of these compounds and their ability to regulate responses to enteric infections remains unclear. Methods and Results: This study investigates if a garlic‐derived preparation (PTSO‐PTS) containing two organosulfur metabolites, propyl‐propane thiosulfonate (PTSO), and propyl‐propane thiosulfinate (PTS), regulate inflammatory responses in murine macrophages and intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) in vitro, as well as in a model of enteric parasite‐induced inflammation. PTSO‐PTS decreases lipopolysaccharide‐induced secretion of TNFα, IL‐6, and IL‐27 in macrophages. RNA‐sequencing demonstrates that PTSO‐PTS strongly suppresses pathways related to immune and inflammatory signaling. PTSO‐PTS induces the expression of a number of genes involved in antioxidant responses in IEC during exposure to antigens from the parasite Trichuris muris. In vivo, PTSO‐PTS does not affect T. muris establishment or intestinal T‐cell responses but significantly alters cecal transcriptomic responses. Notably, a reduction in T. muris‐induced expression of Tnf, Saa2, and Nos2 is observed. Conclusion: Garlic‐derived organosulfur compounds exert anti‐inflammatory effects in macrophages and IEC, and regulate gene expression during intestinal infection. These compounds and related organic molecules may thus hold potential as functional food components to improve gut health in humans and animals.

Application of solvent pH under pressurized conditions using accelerated solvent extraction and green solvents to extract phytonutrients from wild berries

Berry fruits are known as “superfoods” due to health benefits associated with the high content of bioactive compounds or phytonutrients. Organic extraction solvents are fundamentally volatile compounds acquired from non-renewable resources, i.e petroleum-based solvents are presumed to be harmful to both human health and the environment. Owing to the new emphasis on environmental and safety protections and the development of green chemistry, finding alternative solvents to replace the organic ones has recently become a major concern. Indeed, there is a great interest in the scientific community to develop a suitable green approach to allow the extraction and recovery of the bioactive phytonutrients from berry sources for applications in improving human health and nutrition. In this study, the phytonutrient composition of three popular wild berries: blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), partridgeberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) and Rosehipberry (Rosa canina), were evaluated following extraction using biphasic green solvents at pH 2.5, 7.0, and 11.5 under pressurized conditions using Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE) system. The total phenolic content and composition, antioxidant activity, vitamin and mineral content of the berry extracts were evaluated using Folin-Ciocalteu assay, Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power Assay (FRAP), Ultra-High-pressure Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), respectively. The highest total antioxidant activity (p ≤ 0.05) and phenolic content were observed in rosehip berry followed by blueberry and partridgeberry in the hydroethanolic extracts at pH 11.5. Nevertheless, the highest extraction efficiency of total fat-soluble vitamins (FSV) and total B vitamins were also observed in the hydroethanolic extract at pH 11.5. Both in rosehipberry and partridgeberry the highest vitamin C content was observed in hydroethanolic extract at pH 11.5, whereas in blueberry it was observed in the pH 2.5 hydroethanolic extract. In the present study, results demonstrated that using the green solvent system (hydroethanolic, 70:30 v/v) at alkaline pH (11.5) as a pressurized fluid in the ASE system provided significant recovery of phytonutrients from wild berries. This green environmentally friendly system of extraction could represent a suitable alternative for the preparation of food grade or green solvent-based extracts for applications in the food and nutraceutical industry.

125 Nutritional and Extra-nutritional Compounds in Fruit and Vegetable Waste and Their Potential for Use in Dietary Supplements

Abstract Since the beginning of the 20th century, fruits and vegetables have historically been promoted as an important part of the human diet. The plethora of epidemiological and intervention studies has shown, since then, positive associations between fruit and vegetable intake and improved health outcomes and/or prevention of certain chronic diseases. In this regard, dietary fiber has traditionally been viewed as having beneficial effects due to inherent physical properties of solution viscosity and insoluble particles coupled with fermentation by colonic bacteria. However, it is now clear that they exert an important function as a carrier for phytonutrients, which is particularly important for fruits and vegetables, which often have high contents of bioactive phytonutrients such as polyphenols. Remarkably, production and processing of fruit and vegetables for human consumption results in a large amount of food waste due to their high-water contents, fast respiration rate, high sensitivity to environmental factors, and/or presence of inedible parts. Although the utilization of fruit and vegetable waste as animal feed is limited due to their low content of digestible energy, their rich palette of dietary fibers and polyphenols could make it a rich source of health-promoting dietary compounds. As an example, interest in the ability of dietary fibers and (poly)phenolic compounds to influence carbohydrate metabolism and colonic health could make problematical fruit and vegetable biomass a game-changer source of dietary supplements. This presentation will cover recent progress on the nature of interactions between polyphenols and the plant cell wall, how this affects polyphenol bioaccessibility and bioavailability during digestion, and how processing can result in dietary supplements with tailored structure and solubility of their dietary fibers and chemical stability and bioaccesibility of their (poly)phenolic compounds.

Limosilactobacillus reuteri Fermented Brown Rice: A Product with Enhanced Bioactive Compounds and Antioxidant Potential.

Oxidative stress has been postulated to play a role in several diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and stress-related disorders (anxiety/depression). Presently, natural plant-derived phytochemicals are an important tool in reducing metabolomic disorders or for avoiding the side effects of current medicinal therapies. Brown Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is an important part of Asian diets reported as a rich source of bioactive phytonutrients. In our present study, we have analyzed the effect of different lactic acid bacteria (LABs) fermentation on antioxidant properties and in the enhancement of bioactive constituents in Korean brown rice. Therefore, the antioxidant activities and phytochemical analysis were investigated for raw brown rice (BR) and different fermented brown rice (FBR). BR fermented with Limosilactobacillus reuteri, showed the highest antioxidant activities among all samples: DPPH (121.19 ± 1.0), ABTS (145.80 ± 0.99), and FRAP (171.89 ± 0.71) mg Trolox equiv./100 g, dry weight (DW). Total phenolic content (108.86 ± 0.63) mg GAE equiv./100 g, DW and total flavonoids content (86.79 ± 0.83) mg catechin equiv./100 g, DW was also observed highest in Limosilactobacillus reuteri FBR. Furthermore, phytochemical profiling using ultra-high-performance liquid tandem chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF/MS) and cell antioxidant assay (CAA) revealed L. reuteri FBR as a strong antioxidant with an abundance of bioactive compounds such as gamma-aminobutyric acid, coumarin, cinnamic acid, butanoic acid, ascorbic acid, nicotinic acid, and stearic acid. This study expanded current knowledge on the impact of fermentation leading to the enhancement of antioxidant capacity with an abundance of health-related bioactive compounds in BR. The results obtained may provide useful information on functional food production using fermented brown rice.

Effect of Baking Temperature on the Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Activity of Black Corn (Zea mays L.) Bread.

Black corn is known for its health-promoting properties, which are due to its high content of bioactive phytonutrients. However, the high temperatures required during the processing of bakery products usually trigger thermal degradation, and therefore, the loss of all labile bioactive compounds. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of baking temperature on the phenolic content (i.e., TPC, TAC and individual phenolics) and antioxidant activity in black corn (Millo corvo variety) bread. As a result, baking always resulted in a general decrease in TPC, even at 150 °C. In contrast, TAC only decreased when temperatures as high as 180 °C were applied. Some relevant individual phenolics were preserved during the whole process as long as 150 °C was used. In particular, the content of the major anthocyanin, namely, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside, hardly decreased from the raw flour to the final bread. The loss of antioxidant activity of Millo corvo raw flour during bread baking was avoided by heating at 150 °C. These results demonstrate the appropriate temperature to bake Millo corvo corn bread without losing the antioxidant characteristics and health-promoting properties of the starting black corn.

Sweet Cherries as Anti-Cancer Agents: From Bioactive Compounds to Function.

Sweet cherries (Prunus avium L.) are among the most appreciated fruits worldwide because of their organoleptic properties and nutritional value. The accurate phytochemical composition and nutritional value of sweet cherries depends on the climatic region, cultivar, and bioaccessibility and bioavailability of specific compounds. Nevertheless, sweet cherry extracts are highly enriched in several phenolic compounds with relevant bioactivity. Over the years, technological advances in chemical analysis and fields as varied as proteomics, genomics and bioinformatics, have allowed the detailed characterization of the sweet cherry bioactive phytonutrients and their biological function. In this context, the effect of sweet cherries on suppressing important events in the carcinogenic process, such as oxidative stress and inflammation, was widely documented. Interestingly, results from our research group and others have widened the action of sweet cherries to many hallmarks of cancer, namely metabolic reprogramming. The present review discusses the anticarcinogenic potential of sweet cherries by addressing their phytochemical composition, the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of specific bioactive compounds, and the existing knowledge concerning the effects against oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, deregulated cell proliferation and apoptosis, invasion and metastization, and metabolic alterations. Globally, this review highlights the prospective use of sweet cherries as a dietary supplement or in cancer treatment.

Children's liking and wanting of foods vary over multiple bites/sips of consumption: A case study of foods containing wild blueberry powder in the amounts targeted to deliver bioactive phytonutrients for children.

To encourage children to frequently consume wild blueberries as part of their dietary patterns, incorporating blueberry powder into specific foods may be an effective strategy. Thus, it is important to determine appropriate types of food products that both minimize food processing-induced loss of beneficial components of blueberries (e.g., anthocyanins) and satisfy at the same time both nutritional and sensory aspects. For clinical studies assessing the health benefits of blueberry-containing food samples, it would be important to ensure children consume the entire portion of the test samples. This study, therefore, aimed at determining how sensory acceptability (liking) and psychological reward (wanting) of wild blueberry-based foods vary over multiple steps of ad libitum consumption: appearance, first bite/sip, half bite/sip, and full consumption. Five different types of foods containing the targeted amount of wild blueberry powder were prepared for sensory testing (oatmeal bar, beverage, ice pop, gummy, and cookie), and the residual amounts of total anthocyanin and chlorogenic acid were measured to confirm levels targeted to deliver bioactive amounts of these phytochemicals. Results showed that while overall liking and desire to eat did not differ among the five samples at the appearance and first bite/sip steps, they differed significantly at the end of consumption. Although children liked and wanted to consume the cookies more when compared to beverages, ice pops, and/or gummies, total anthocyanin contents were lower in cookies and gummies than in wild blueberry powder, beverage, and ice pop samples. Notably, the oatmeal bars with significant amounts of total anthocyanin and chlorogenic acid did not significantly differ from the cookies with respect to overall liking, desire to eat, and the amount consumed. In conclusion, this study shows that sensory evaluation using multiple bites/sips of ad libitum food consumption, along with a measurement of beneficial compounds, is efficient in determining appropriate vehicles for clinical studies of wild blueberry-containing foods.

Isolation of wheat mutants with higher grain phenolics to enhance anti-oxidant potential

Present in many plant foods, biogenic phenolic compounds are important bioactive phytonutrients with high anti-oxidant activity and thereby are praised for their health-promoting properties. However, current food nutrient improvement by high phenolic content in staples is limited by the shortage of genetic resources rich in phenolic compounds. To resolve this obstacle, we developed a non-destructive massive analytical approach to screen wheat phenolic mutants. In grains, multiple mutant lines showed significantly higher contents of flavonoids or cell wall-bound phenolic esters. Moreover, five mutants showed higher anti-oxidant potentials in wall-bound phenolic compounds ranging from 15% to 20%, with the maximal close to natural black wheat. In contrast to black wheat, two mutants accumulated higher phenolic compounds in the endosperm. lrf4 was mapped by BSR to a concentrated genomic region in the short arm of chromosome 1A. The present work represents an efficient high-throughput strategy to increase wheat anti-oxidant potential through traditional mutagenesis.

Effect of Vaccinium Myrtillus Extract Supplement on Advanced Glycation End-products: A Pilot Study (P06-098-19)

ObjectivesExcessive consumption of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) with western-style diet in vogue is increasingly seen as a potential cause of aging and metabolic diseases. Several berries contain appreciable quantities of bioactive phytonutrients, including phenolic compounds, which are potentially good candidates as AGE inhibitors. This parallel double-blind intervention study investigated whether the Vaccinium Myrtillus extract supplement is able to reduce the AGEs levels in humans. (clinicaltrials.gov NCT03316612) MethodsSeventy-four healthy subjects were randomly assigned to an intervention group (4 tablets per day, containing 600 mg Vaccinium Myrtillus extract, n = 39) versus placebo group (tablets with the same appearance but without the berry extract, n = 35). We evaluated dietary intake, sleep, exercise, mental state, and anthropometric characteristics over the 3 months of intervention. Plasma soluble receptor for AGE (sRAGE) levels were determined by ELISA (R&D). Plasma protein-bound AGEs, including Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) and Nε-(carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL), were determined by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. ResultsDietary intake, sleep, exercise, mental state, anthropometric characteristics, and plasma sRAGE levels were not changed during the intervention in two groups. CML levels [1137.5 (918.5–1493.0) vs. 840.9 (757.4–953.8) μg/L, P < 0.001] decreased significantly in the intervention group compared with the placebo group. However, we did not observe a significant change of CEL levels [201.9 (168.5–236.3) vs.176.8 (147.1–212.6) μg/L, P = 0.067] in the intervention group. ConclusionsOur results suggest that plasma protein-bound AGEs can be reduced partly by Vaccinium Myrtillus extract supplement. As widely available, safe and nutritious foods, berries with rich phenolic metabolites (particularly anthocyanins) represent a promising dietary intervention worthy of further investigation. Funding SourcesNutrition Scientific Research Foundation of BY-HEALTH. Supporting Tables, Images and/or Graphs▪

Effect of post harvest ripening on bioactive secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity in mango cv. Amrapali

Mango possesses many bioactive phytonutrients at ripe stage which boost our immune systemagainst many diseases. Post harvest ripening plays a major role in changes in those bioactivephytochemicals and their antioxidant activity. Hence, the present study was undertaken toassess the changes in bioactive phytonutrients and total antioxidant activity during ripeningof mango cv. Amrapali. The fruits were analyzed for total antioxidants, total phenols, totalflavonoids and total carotenoids from the day of harvest to its deterioration. Fruit peel andpulp color was measured with SPH850 spectrophotometer on the basis of the CIE LAB colorsystem (L*, a* and b*). The results revealed that total phenols (36.11 to 66.53mg GAE 100g-1),total flavonoids (14.33 to 34.67mg QE 100g-1), total carotenoids (2.23 to 11.47mg 100g-1) andtotal antioxidant (0.37 to 0.76 mmol Trolox 100g-1) activity increased gradually from day one toninth day after harvest and decreased slightly thereafter up to eleventh day of harvest excepttotal carotenoids, which remained constant. Strong correlations between total phenols (0.94),total flavonoids (0.86) and total carotenoids (0.97) with total antioxidant activity were noticed.Positive relationship between total carotenoids and L*, a*, b* values in mango peel and pulpduring ripening was also observed. It can be concluded that ripening affected the compositionof bioactive phytonutrients and their antioxidant activity in mango andmaximum nutraceuticalscontents were noticed from seven to nine days after harvest.

Effect of post harvest ripening on bioactive secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity in mango cv. Amrapali

Mango possesses many bioactive phytonutrients at ripe stage which boost our immune systemagainst many diseases. Post harvest ripening plays a major role in changes in those bioactivephytochemicals and their antioxidant activity. Hence, the present study was undertaken toassess the changes in bioactive phytonutrients and total antioxidant activity during ripeningof mango cv. Amrapali. The fruits were analyzed for total antioxidants, total phenols, totalflavonoids and total carotenoids from the day of harvest to its deterioration. Fruit peel andpulp color was measured with SPH850 spectrophotometer on the basis of the CIE LAB colorsystem (L*, a* and b*). The results revealed that total phenols (36.11 to 66.53mg GAE 100g-1),total flavonoids (14.33 to 34.67mg QE 100g-1), total carotenoids (2.23 to 11.47mg 100g-1) andtotal antioxidant (0.37 to 0.76 mmol Trolox 100g-1) activity increased gradually from day one toninth day after harvest and decreased slightly thereafter up to eleventh day of harvest excepttotal carotenoids, which remained constant. Strong correlations between total phenols (0.94),total flavonoids (0.86) and total carotenoids (0.97) with total antioxidant activity were noticed.Positive relationship between total carotenoids and L*, a*, b* values in mango peel and pulpduring ripening was also observed. It can be concluded that ripening affected the compositionof bioactive phytonutrients and their antioxidant activity in mango andmaximum nutraceuticalscontents were noticed from seven to nine days after harvest.

Effects of microwave heating on the antioxidant activities of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

The aim of this study is to estimate phytochemical constituents and antioxidant activities of tomato slices treated by microwave heating. Two treatments time were applied, 30 and 300 s. Quantitative analyses of phenols, flavonoids, lycopene, followed by the evaluation of the antioxidant activity by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ion chelating methods, were conducted on ethanolic extracts. Results showed the presence of these bioactive phytonutrients in fresh tomato and that their biodisponibility increases with the duration of the selected heat treatment. The phytochemical content showed important levels of polyphenols (1.92, 1.96, 6.95 mg gallic acid equivalent/g fresh matter) and flavonoids (2.33, 2.57, 10.68 mg RE/g fresh matter), in addition to lycopene (5.772, 31.8654, 40.71 mg/kg fresh matter) of non-treated, treated tomatoes at 30 s and treated tomatoes at 300 s, respectively. Results also revealed a high level of antioxidant activity by both methods with IC50 of 1.69, 1.50, 1.33 µg/ml, for DPPH method and IC50 of 401, 360.5, 299.91 µg/ml, for ion chelating ability. Thus, in our study, we demonstrated that microwave treatments enhance the nutritional quality of tomato slices by enhancing the biodisponibility of some of its content. Higher treatment time gives better results.

A comprehensive review on functional properties of fermented rice bran

A predominant by-product of rice processing is rice bran (RB). The phytochemical composition of the RB varied among the cultivars. RB is rich in oil, phenolic compounds, polysaccharides, proteins, and micronutrients along with more than 100 known antioxidants and bioactive phytonutrients. The crude and purified RB extracts were used in pharmacological, cosmeceuticals, and food industries. Fermentation process improved the phytochemical constituents and enhanced the bioactivity of RB. The fermented RB (FRB) has been reported for the enhanced antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory bowel diseases, anti-diabetes activities, etc., FRB is used as potent animal feed, especially in poultry industries. RB bioactive principles were studied for their potential application in anti-aging treatments, and cosmetics. The current manuscript summarizes the changes in the phytochemical content of RB during the fermentation process and functional property of FRB.

Profiling of bioactive phytonutrients associated with antioxidant activity at various growth stages of mango

Profiling of bioactive phytonutrients associated with antioxidant activity at various growth stages of mango

Mango peel: A potential source of natural bioactive phyto-nutrients in functional food

Mango peel as waste is a potential source of natural bioactive photochemical such as polyphenols, carotenoids and dietary fiber. The present study is conducted with a view to exploit mango peel as source of natural bioactive valuable components. Proximate composition of mango peel powder consist of moisture 3.4, protein 3.8, fat 2.6, crude fiber 8.9, carbohydrates 87 per cent respectively, b- carotene 5.6 mg, ash 2.9 per cent, calcium 4.15, phosphorous 0.45, iron 4.62 and zinc 2.85 mg . The total dietary fiber recovery was 69.86, insoluble dietary fiber 44.23, soluble dietary fiber 24.63 and total crude polyphenols 4.5g per 100g of mango peel sample. The antioxidant activity was 76.96 Vitamin C Eq.mcg/100g. Further biscuits were developed by incorporating mango peel powder at different incorporation levels as diversified and value added food products to improve nutraceutical properties of foods.

Phytonutrients as therapeutic agents.

Nutrients present in various foods plays an important role in maintaining the normal functions of the human body. The major nutrients present in foods include carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, and minerals. Besides these, there are some bioactive food components known as "phytonutrients" that play an important role in human health. They have tremendous impact on the health care system and may provide medical health benefits including the prevention and/or treatment of disease and various physiological disorders. Phytonutrients play a positive role by maintaining and modulating immune function to prevent specific diseases. Being natural products, they hold a great promise in clinical therapy as they possess no side effects that are usually associated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. They are also comparatively cheap and thus significantly reduce health care cost. Phytonutrients are the plant nutrients with specific biological activities that support human health. Some of the important bioactive phytonutrients include polyphenols, terpenoids, resveratrol, flavonoids, isoflavonoids, carotenoids, limonoids, glucosinolates, phytoestrogens, phytosterols, anthocyanins, ω-3 fatty acids, and probiotics. They play specific pharmacological effects in human health such as anti-microbial, anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic, anti-spasmodic, anti-cancer, anti-aging, hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, neuroprotective, hypotensive, diabetes, osteoporosis, CNS stimulant, analgesic, protection from UVB-induced carcinogenesis, immuno-modulator, and carminative. This mini-review attempts to summarize the major important types of phytonutrients and their role in promoting human health and as therapeutic agents along with the current market trend and commercialization.