Plant-Based Functional Foods and Phytochemicals

Book excerpt: Plant-Based Functional Foods and Phytochemicals: From Traditional Knowledge to Present Innovation covers the importance of the therapeutic health benefits of phytochemicals derived from plants. It discusses the isolation of potential bioactive molecules from plant sources along with their value to human health. It focuses on physical characteristics, uniqueness, uses, distribution, traditional and nutritional importance, bioactivities, and future trends of different plant-based foods and food products. Functional foods, beyond providing basic nutrition, may offer a potentially positive effect on health and cures for various disease conditions, such as metabolic disorders (including diabetes), cancer, and chronic inflammatory reactions. The volume looks at these natural products and their bioactive compounds that are increasingly utilized in preventive and therapeutic medications and in the production of pharmaceutical supplements and as food additives to increase functionality. It also describes the concept of extraction of bioactive molecules from plant sources, both conventional and modern extraction techniques, available sources, biochemistry, structural composition, and potential biological activities.