Nutrition and exercise are associated with the promotion of health and well-being and have become an important issue in consumers' choices. With this, concerns about products’ sustainability and the use of natural ingredients are imposing on the food industry the reformulation of products to address issues such as the reduction of sugar, salt, and fat levels and to replace less sustainable ingredients (e.g., colorants, antioxidants) using a “clean label” approach. Herewith, the use of natural extracts as food ingredients started to play a key role in a putative substitution of the currently used additives due to the important health benefits that are associated with their consumption. However, the chemical composition of natural extracts is complex, depending on intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as the natural source, the geographical origin, the agronomic and processing practices, etc. Likewise, there is a lack of standardized methodology for extraction and analysis. Under this context, establishing a structure-health benefit relationship is still a challenge. Besides, bioactive compounds can molecularly bind to food macromolecules, digestive enzymes, and cell receptors affecting the pharmacokinetics, absorption, and metabolism and ultimately affecting human health.
This Special Issue plans to cover the research on the chemical characterization of natural extracts from agri-food sources and respective byproducts and their relationship with human health. The bioactive compounds-matrix-human interactions must be considered to improve the knowledge to advance in the design of personalized diets and foods. This Special Issue covers original and reviews papers including (but not limited) to the following subjects:
• Standardization of natural extracts' chemical composition;
• Sustainable methodologies for the extraction of bioactive compounds from different agri-food sources and respective byproducts;
• Bioactive compounds-human molecular and gene interactions;
• Bioactive compounds-food matrices molecular interactions;
• Establishment of bioactive compounds structure-health benefit relationship.
Nutrition and exercise are associated with the promotion of health and well-being and have become an important issue in consumers' choices. With this, concerns about products’ sustainability and the use of natural ingredients are imposing on the food industry the reformulation of products to address issues such as the reduction of sugar, salt, and fat levels and to replace less sustainable ingredients (e.g., colorants, antioxidants) using a “clean label” approach. Herewith, the use of natural extracts as food ingredients started to play a key role in a putative substitution of the currently used additives due to the important health benefits that are associated with their consumption. However, the chemical composition of natural extracts is complex, depending on intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as the natural source, the geographical origin, the agronomic and processing practices, etc. Likewise, there is a lack of standardized methodology for extraction and analysis. Under this context, establishing a structure-health benefit relationship is still a challenge. Besides, bioactive compounds can molecularly bind to food macromolecules, digestive enzymes, and cell receptors affecting the pharmacokinetics, absorption, and metabolism and ultimately affecting human health.
This Special Issue plans to cover the research on the chemical characterization of natural extracts from agri-food sources and respective byproducts and their relationship with human health. The bioactive compounds-matrix-human interactions must be considered to improve the knowledge to advance in the design of personalized diets and foods. This Special Issue covers original and reviews papers including (but not limited) to the following subjects:
• Standardization of natural extracts' chemical composition;
• Sustainable methodologies for the extraction of bioactive compounds from different agri-food sources and respective byproducts;
• Bioactive compounds-human molecular and gene interactions;
• Bioactive compounds-food matrices molecular interactions;
• Establishment of bioactive compounds structure-health benefit relationship.