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3 Dietary Intakes of Polyphenols in Selected Vegetables and Fruits
Med Diet Mediterranean Dietary pattern
NCBI
National Center for Biotechnology Information
NPC
Natural phenolic compound
NCD
Non-communicable diseases
OO
Olive oil
USA
United States of America
VOO
Virgin olive oil
WHO
World Health Organization
3.1 Nutritional Importance of Polyphenols
Are phenolic molecules important when speaking of human nutrition and health
advantages?
The answer is positive: phenolics are nowadays recognized for their important
properties concerning human nutrition, health benefits, as well as for their association with the Mediterranean Diet (Med Diet) (Parisi 2019–2020). The main reason
for such a relevant and highly reported role is generally linked with the notable
antioxidant action of polyphenols in foods and beverages.
It has been reported by Pérez-Jiménez and coworkers that polyphenols can be
abundant enough in Mediterranean dishes, although their amount may be extremely
variegated: from 10 mg/100 ml in rosé wines to 15,000 mg per 100 g in cloves.
This abundance concerns many types and sub-typologies of food matrices, including
darkly coloured berries, spices, table olives, etc. (Pérez-Jiménez et al. 2010). Anyway, it could be interesting to highlight that in the list of main foods with notable
polyphenol abundance, natural seasonings or spices are the top groups with more
than 20 items, while fruits in the list (of polyphenol-rich foods) are exactly 20 types.
The remaining group of foods, in the list, is extremely heterogeneous, including
cereals, cocoa products, wines, vegetable oils, etc. The above-mentioned food list
displays a variegated world of polyphenols-rich foods and beverages where each
representative matrix may have a distinctive role (when speaking of phytonutrients
for dietary purposes).
A discussion concerning the different types and sub-typologies of polyphenolsrich foods may be long enough, and other papers are already available in the scientific
literature. The following sections would give a simplified and compact overview of
this information, focusing the interest on several matrices:
(a) Cereals
(b) Cloves and other herbs and spices
(c) Cocoa products
(d) Fruits
(e) Non-alcoholic beverages
(f) Pulses
(g) Seeds
3 Dietary Intakes of Polyphenols in Selected Vegetables and Fruits
Med Diet Mediterranean Dietary pattern
NCBI
National Center for Biotechnology Information
NPC
Natural phenolic compound
NCD
Non-communicable diseases
OO
Olive oil
USA
United States of America
VOO
Virgin olive oil
WHO
World Health Organization
3.1 Nutritional Importance of Polyphenols
Are phenolic molecules important when speaking of human nutrition and health
advantages?
The answer is positive: phenolics are nowadays recognized for their important
properties concerning human nutrition, health benefits, as well as for their association with the Mediterranean Diet (Med Diet) (Parisi 2019–2020). The main reason
for such a relevant and highly reported role is generally linked with the notable
antioxidant action of polyphenols in foods and beverages.
It has been reported by Pérez-Jiménez and coworkers that polyphenols can be
abundant enough in Mediterranean dishes, although their amount may be extremely
variegated: from 10 mg/100 ml in rosé wines to 15,000 mg per 100 g in cloves.
This abundance concerns many types and sub-typologies of food matrices, including
darkly coloured berries, spices, table olives, etc. (Pérez-Jiménez et al. 2010). Anyway, it could be interesting to highlight that in the list of main foods with notable
polyphenol abundance, natural seasonings or spices are the top groups with more
than 20 items, while fruits in the list (of polyphenol-rich foods) are exactly 20 types.
The remaining group of foods, in the list, is extremely heterogeneous, including
cereals, cocoa products, wines, vegetable oils, etc. The above-mentioned food list
displays a variegated world of polyphenols-rich foods and beverages where each
representative matrix may have a distinctive role (when speaking of phytonutrients
for dietary purposes).
A discussion concerning the different types and sub-typologies of polyphenolsrich foods may be long enough, and other papers are already available in the scientific
literature. The following sections would give a simplified and compact overview of
this information, focusing the interest on several matrices:
(a) Cereals
(b) Cloves and other herbs and spices
(c) Cocoa products
(d) Fruits
(e) Non-alcoholic beverages
(f) Pulses
(g) Seeds