Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals

Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals: Chemistry, Nutritional Value and Stability provides scientists in the areas of food technology and nutrition with accessible and up-to-date information about the chemical nature, classification and analysis of the main phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables – polyphenols and carotenoids. Special care is taken to analyze the health benefits of these compounds, their interaction with fiber, antioxidant and other biological activities, as well as the degradation processes that occur after harvest and minimal processing.

Contributors vii

Preface xi

Chapter 1. The Contribution of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption to Human Health 3
Elhadi M. Yahia

Chapter 2. Phenolic Compounds: Chemistry and Occurrence in Fruits and Vegetables 53
Cristina Andres-Lacueva, Alex Medina-Remon, Rafael Llorach, Mireia Urpi-Sarda, Nasiruddin Khan, Gemma Chiva-Blanch, Raul Zamora-Ros, Maria Rotches-Ribalta, and Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventos

Chapter 3. Synthesis and Metabolism of Phenolic Compounds 89
Mikal E. Saltveit

Chapter 4. Enzymatic and Nonenzymatic Degradation of Polyphenols 101
Jose Manuel Lopez-Nicolas, and Francisco Garcıa-Carmona

Chapter 5. Chemistry of Flavonoids 131
Rong Tsao and Jason McCallum

Chapter 6. Flavonoids and Their Relation to Human Health 155
Alma E. Robles-Sardin, Adriana Veronica Bolanos-Villar, Gustavo A. Gonzalez-Aguilar, and Laura A. de la Rosa

Chapter 7. Chemistry, Stability, and Biological Actions of Carotenoids 177
Elhadi M. Yahia and Jose de Jesus Ornelas-Paz

Chapter 8. Dietary Fiber and Associated Antioxidants in Fruit and Vegetables 223
Fulgencio Saura-Calixto, Jara Perez-Jimenez, and Isabel Goni

Chapter 9. Emerging Technologies Used for the Extraction of Phytochemicals from Fruits, Vegetables, and Other Natural Sources 235
Marleny D. A. Saldana, Felix M. C. Gamarra, and Rodrigo M. P. Siloto

Chapter 10. Methods of Analysis of Antioxidant Capacity of Phytochemicals 271
Nuria Grigelmo-Miguel, Ma Alejandra Rojas-Grau, Robert Soliva-Fortuny, and Olga Martın-Belloso

Chapter 11. Phytochemical Changes in the Postharvest and Minimal Processing of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables 309
Gustavo A. Gonzalez-Aguilar, J. Fernando Ayala-Zavala, Laura A. de la Rosa, and Emilio Alvarez-Parrilla

Chapter 12. Quality Loss of Fruits and Vegetables Induced by Microbial Growth 341
Saul Ruiz Cruz and Sofia Arvizu-Medrano

Index 357

"This informative book confirms the health benefits of fruit and vegetables in the human diet, and is a must-read for all - not only so-called health fanatics. Now I fully understand why our parents stressed the daily importance of eating our vegetables." (Food & Beverage Reporter, 30 November 2010) Laura A. de la Rosa, PhD, is professor in the Chemistry Program of the Department of Basic Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Juárez, México.

Emilio Alvarez-Parrilla, PhD, is professor in the Chemistry Program of the Department of Basic Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez, Juárez, México.

Gustavo A. González-Aguilar, PhD, is full-time researcher at the Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, A.C., Hermosillo, Sonora, México.

There has been increasing interest in the nutritional properties of fruits and vegetables as sources of health-promoting phytochemical compounds. Epidemiological data correlate a high consumption of these compounds with a lower risk of several cardiovascular and degenerative diseases. Phytochemicals are a heterogeneous group of chemical compounds with numerous biological actions.

Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals: Chemistry, Nutritional Value and Stability provides scientists in the areas of food technology and nutrition with accessible and up-to-date information about the chemical nature, classification and analysis of the main phytochemicals present in fruits and vegetables – polyphenols and carotenoids. Special care is taken to analyze the health benefits of these compounds, their interaction with fiber, antioxidant and other biological activities, as well as the degradation processes that occur after harvest and minimal processing.

The book commences with a review of the beneficial effects of whole fruits and vegetables. The following chapters describe chemical and biochemical aspects of different phytochemical groups commonly found in fruits and vegetables, including polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and dietary fiber. Coverage also includes the analytical aspects of phytochemicals extraction and determination of antioxidant capacity. Fruit and Vegetable Phytochemicals concludes with chapters focusing on the effects of harvest and minimal processing technologies on the degradation of phytochemicals.