Featured Reviews on Phytochemicals and Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetables, fruits and botanicals are part of the human daily diet worldwide. A balanced diet composed mainly of vegetables and fruits (five servings per day) is healthy and sustainable. Hydration with water and plant beverages without added sugar is also healthy. Nutrients and bioactive compounds, also called phytochemicals, composing these foods and beverages contribute to their health-promoting properties. However, the relationship between the structure and function, digestibility, bioaccessibility, bioavailability, and mechanism of action of their individual components, as well as the effects of food matrix and processing on their role in health and disease are not completely understood.

Food processing generates many wastes or by-products which are a sustainable source of phytochemicals, with tremendous potential for global nutrition security. In the last two decades, a great deal of research has been done in this field, but has not been able to authorize health claims for these products. Plant by-products represent an environmental problem worldwide. Therefore, their conversion into innovative products is necessary for achieving a sustainable food chain.

Traditional plant foods from developing countries are welcome by the developed countries to complete a healthy nutrition profile. Innovative foodstuffs for sustainable health combining edible plants with different nature (fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants) can ensure healthy nutrition for all. The transfer of knowledge between different societies with different eating habits, and from traditional medicine to the food industry, is mandatory for achieving a nutritious, safe, healthy and sustainable diet. To achieve this goal, it is also important to work in a multidisciplinary environment. The attraction of consumers to novel foods and beverages drives the development of products satisfying their demands, which includes the design of new formulations by applying the co-creation and bio-economy concepts. These products are targeted to possess high sensorial quality, and to be nutritious with particular health-promoting properties. The production of food supplements also is a challenge for the food industry, and should be faced in collaboration with health professionals. 

In the present Special Issue, we welcome narrative and systematic reviews on any of the aspects discussed above for extending the knowledge of the impact of phytochemicals and those products enriched with them (botanicals, raw foods, processed foods, functional foods, food supplements, vegetable powders, plant by-products, medicinal plants) in human health and disease.

Dr. Maria Dolores del Castillo
Guest Editor

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