The reciprocal interaction between polyphenols and other dietary compounds: Impact on bioavailability, antioxidant capacity and other physico-chemical and nutritional parameters

 Food Chem. 375, 131904, (2022)

Polyphenols are plant secondary metabolites, whose biological activity has been widely demonstrated. However, the research in this field is a bit reductive, as very frequently the effect of individual compound is investigated in different experimental models, neglecting more complex, but common, relationships that are established in the diet. This review summarizes the data that highlighted the interaction between polyphenols and other food components, especially macro- (lipids, proteins, carbohydrates and fibers) and micronutrients (minerals, vitamins and organic pigments), paying particular attention on their bioavailability, antioxidant capacity and chemical, physical, organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. The topic of food interaction has yet to be extensively studied because a greater knowledge of the food chemistry behind these interactions and the variables that modify their effects, could offer innovations and improvements in various fields ranging from organoleptic, nutritional to health and economic field.

Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview

 Antioxidants 2020, 9(7), 619 

DOI: 10.3390/antiox9070619

Garlic is a polyphenolic and organosulfur enriched nutraceutical spice consumed since ancient times. Garlic and its secondary metabolites have shown excellent health-promoting and disease-preventing effects on many human common diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, blood pressure, and diabetes, through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-lowering properties, as demonstrated in several in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive overview on the consumption of garlic, garlic preparation, garlic extract, and garlic extract-derived bioactive constituents on oxidative stress, inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, skin, bone, and other common diseases. Among the 83 human interventional trials considered, the consumption of garlic has been reported to modulate multiple biomarkers of different diseases; in addition, its combination with drugs or other food matrices has been shown to be safe and to prolong their therapeutic effects. The rapid metabolism and poor bioavailability that have limited the therapeutic use of garlic in the last years are also discussed.

Dietary polyphenols for managing cancers: What have we ignored?

 Trends in Food Science & Technology, 2020, 101, 150-164

DOI: 10.1016/j.tifs.2020.05.017

Although the chemoprevention and anti-cancer activities of dietary polyphenols have been evidenced through both in vitro and in vivo studies, most of the human clinical trials were unsuccessful or even harmful. Debates on the beneficial roles of dietary polyphenols in cancer therapy are increasing. Many dietary polyphenols studies are conducted by in vitro experiments, but the nature of these studies does not consider the complexity of metabolic processes that are present in vivo. These can often cause instability in the dietary polyphenols, thereby leading to unsuccessful extrapolation into animal or human studies. Dietary polyphenols often have low bioavailability, which is mainly due to poor bioaccessibility and significant metabolism mediated by both host enzymes and colon microbiota. Some metabolites or catabolites are more potent and absorb better than the parent component. It is recognised that the oral bioavailability of dietary polyphenols is underestimated when the bioactive metabolites or catabolites are not considered. Notably, dietary polyphenols and their metabolites undergo further cellular metabolism within the cancer cells, which confers “cellular bioavailability” as an additional step to influence the actions of dietary polyphenols. Moreover, there are growing controversies in using dietary polyphenols for both chemopreventive and anti-cancer applications. A clear therapeutic window for dietary polyphenols as specific chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic agents is required. This review, thus, aims to identify key issues that were ignored by most of the studies, or are critical for future investigation.

Recent advances in extracting phenolic compounds from food and their use in disease prevention and as cosmetics

 Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition

Phenolic compounds in plants are essential components of human nutrition, which provide various health benefits. However, some missing links became the research in phenolic compounds structures and potential applications in a challenging work. Despite universal extraction methods with mixtures of different organic solvents are generally adopted in the analysis of phenolic compounds, a need for establish a specific procedure is still open. The great heterogeneity in food and food by-products matrices and the lack of standardized methods which combine chromatographic with spectrophotometric techniques to calculate the amount of phenolic compounds joined with the absence of specific standards hamper to accurate know the real amount of phenolic compounds. Indeed, the high complexity in nature and chemistry of phenolic compounds clearly difficult to establish a daily intake to obtain certain healthy outcomes. Hence, despite the potential of phenolic compounds to use them in cosmetic and healthy applications have been widely analyzed, some concerns must be considered. The chemical complexity, the interactions between phenolic compounds and other food components and the structural changes induced by food processing joined with the lack in the understanding of phenolic compounds metabolism and bioavailability undergo the need to conduct a comprehensive review of each factors influencing the final activity of phenolic compounds. This paper summarizes the potential of phenolic compounds for disease prevention and cosmetics production, as well as their many other uses derived from their antioxidant activity. This paper illustrates the potential of phenolic compounds for disease prevention and cosmetics production, as well as their many other uses derived from their antioxidant activity.