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1 Polyphenols and the Mediterranean Diet …
UV
Ultraviolet
VOO
Virgin olive oil
1.1 Introduction to Mediterranean Diet and Polyphenols
Stumbling on healthy food is a sumptuous chance, let alone if this food is tasty.
Associating the healthy aspect with the copious taste seems to be a difficult equation.
However, the Mediterranean dietary pattern (Med Diet) has spurred this betting
because this equation is already one of the pillars of this diet, placing it at the top of
the podium of the most famous diets in the world.
The Med Diet has the potential to stimulate the consumer’s senses through a
wide range of colours, flavours, aromas and scents, offering an aromatic bouquet
such as that of the green artichoke, or the red tomato, perhaps the fruitiness of extra
virgin olive oil (EVOO), but also the innumerable sensory notes and flavours such
as spicy pepper, the hot and stinging sensation of a chill pepper, the bitterness of
table olive, or the sweetness of red apple. The golden colour of wheat, the intense
green of spinach and many other nuances mark the rainbow’s character of Med Diet.
The Mediterranean cuisine is known for its cornucopia of colourful healthy plates,
where there is even some room for drinks and pastries. Hence, the Med Diet has
a specific flavour derived from a multitude of ingredients and offers you not only
the opportunity to enjoy affordable healthy dishes, rapid and easy to prepare, but
also offers the opportunity to strengthen your social ties. The Mediterranean Diet, as
defined by UNESCO, encompasses a lifestyle that goes beyond a mere diet (Almeida
et al. 2017).
The quality of food in terms of taste and nutritional value is based on its composition. Phenols play a crucial role in plant-based foods including the linkage to
consumer’s acceptance. Besides their role in preventing the emergence of some diseases (Panickar and Anderson 2011), phenols play an important role in shaping our
perception of foods.
The myriad of scientific research published during the last decade on the health
and nutritional benefits of polyphenols stimulated the creation and the development
of a niche market linked to polyphenols (Cory et al. 2018). The Global Polyphenols
Market, including the field of food and beverages, pharmaceutical and cosmetics,
was estimated at 1.28 United States Dollars (USD) billion in 2018 and is expected to
reach a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.2% from 2019 to 2025 (Grand
View Research 2019).
Polyphenols are mainly extracted from 11 food matrices: grape seed, green tea,
apple, peach, citrus, olive (fruit and oil), berries, cocoa and coffee beans, potato,
algae and pomegranate, in which grape seed dominated the global market in 2018,
followed by green tea as the ‘second largest product segment’, and cocoa and coffee
were also relevant to the development of the polyphenols global market (Grand
View Research 2019). Frost and Sullivan estimated that the revenues for the overall
1 Polyphenols and the Mediterranean Diet …
UV
Ultraviolet
VOO
Virgin olive oil
1.1 Introduction to Mediterranean Diet and Polyphenols
Stumbling on healthy food is a sumptuous chance, let alone if this food is tasty.
Associating the healthy aspect with the copious taste seems to be a difficult equation.
However, the Mediterranean dietary pattern (Med Diet) has spurred this betting
because this equation is already one of the pillars of this diet, placing it at the top of
the podium of the most famous diets in the world.
The Med Diet has the potential to stimulate the consumer’s senses through a
wide range of colours, flavours, aromas and scents, offering an aromatic bouquet
such as that of the green artichoke, or the red tomato, perhaps the fruitiness of extra
virgin olive oil (EVOO), but also the innumerable sensory notes and flavours such
as spicy pepper, the hot and stinging sensation of a chill pepper, the bitterness of
table olive, or the sweetness of red apple. The golden colour of wheat, the intense
green of spinach and many other nuances mark the rainbow’s character of Med Diet.
The Mediterranean cuisine is known for its cornucopia of colourful healthy plates,
where there is even some room for drinks and pastries. Hence, the Med Diet has
a specific flavour derived from a multitude of ingredients and offers you not only
the opportunity to enjoy affordable healthy dishes, rapid and easy to prepare, but
also offers the opportunity to strengthen your social ties. The Mediterranean Diet, as
defined by UNESCO, encompasses a lifestyle that goes beyond a mere diet (Almeida
et al. 2017).
The quality of food in terms of taste and nutritional value is based on its composition. Phenols play a crucial role in plant-based foods including the linkage to
consumer’s acceptance. Besides their role in preventing the emergence of some diseases (Panickar and Anderson 2011), phenols play an important role in shaping our
perception of foods.
The myriad of scientific research published during the last decade on the health
and nutritional benefits of polyphenols stimulated the creation and the development
of a niche market linked to polyphenols (Cory et al. 2018). The Global Polyphenols
Market, including the field of food and beverages, pharmaceutical and cosmetics,
was estimated at 1.28 United States Dollars (USD) billion in 2018 and is expected to
reach a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.2% from 2019 to 2025 (Grand
View Research 2019).
Polyphenols are mainly extracted from 11 food matrices: grape seed, green tea,
apple, peach, citrus, olive (fruit and oil), berries, cocoa and coffee beans, potato,
algae and pomegranate, in which grape seed dominated the global market in 2018,
followed by green tea as the ‘second largest product segment’, and cocoa and coffee
were also relevant to the development of the polyphenols global market (Grand
View Research 2019). Frost and Sullivan estimated that the revenues for the overall