Fruit Beverages and Human Intervention Studies

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last decade, the food industry has increased its interest in developing functional foods, including fruit juices, as a source of natural dietary antioxidants, due to the increased demand of consumers for foods and beverages that improve or benefit health. This strategy tries to amend the nutritional status of the population, or of certain target groups within the population, and/or to correct possible deficiencies of vitamins and minerals that arise from changes in feeding habits.

Epidemiological studies in the past have often failed to differentiate between the effects of whole fruits and vegetables and of the juices derived from them. In this sense, some dietary policies have minimized the role of fruit juices by suggesting that they fail to provide the same nutritional benefits as whole fruits and vegetables since juices contain less fiber. However, some recent studies indicate that, when considering cancer and coronary heart disease prevention, there is no evidence that fruit and vegetable juices are less beneficial than whole fruits and vegetables. Accordingly, policies asserting that fruit and vegetable juices are somehow nutritionally inferior are unjustified and should be re-evaluated.

Therefore, the main goal of this Special Issue is to provide rationale and new data (i.e., original research and review articles) on the health benefits of fruit beverages in human intervention studies, considering, among others:

-total antioxidant capacity and/or endogenous antioxidant enzymes

-parameters of inflammation and oxidative stress

-biomarkers of disease (covering measurement of endogenous substances or parameters indicative of a disease process) or response (including measures of endogenous substances or parameters indicative of pathological or biochemical changes)

Dr. Antonio Cilla
Guest Editor

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