Title:Phenolic Compounds as Nutraceuticals or Functional Food Ingredients
Volume: 23
Issue: 19
Author(s): Cristina Caleja, Andreia Ribeiro, Maria Filomena Barreiro and Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira*
Affiliation:
- Mountain Research Centre (CIMO), ESA, Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, Braganca,Portugal
Keywords:
Phenolic compounds, nutraceuticals, functional foods, health benefits, consumers, bioactive ingredients.
Abstract: Background: Nowadays, the functional foods represent one the most promising, interesting and innovative
areas in the food industry. Various components are being added to foods in order to render them functional.
Methods: One example of these components are plant naturally occurring phenolic compounds, which are associated
with a high antioxidant capacity and thus with benefits in relation to human health.
Results: However, despite the huge number of scientific studies and patents on this topic and their natural presence
in foods, namely in the ones from plant origin, there are still few marketable products enriched with these
compounds. The commercialization of this type of functional products needs to go through various regulations,
proving that they are safe and present the ascribed health benefits, conquering the target audience. In this review
the growing interest of industry and consumers’ appetence for functional foods and nutraceuticals is highlighted,
focusing especially on phenolic compounds.
Conclusion: Although several published works show the multitude of bioactive properties of these compounds,
ensuring their use as bioactive ingredients in food, they present inherent stability issues needing to be solved.
However, considerable research is presently ongoing to overcome this problem, making viable the development
of new products to be launched in the market.
