Preface

Plants have been widely used as food and medicines, since they provide, not only essential nutrients required for human life, but also other bioactive compounds which play important roles in health promotion and disease prevention, commonly known as phytochemicals. Moreover, in the recent years, the impact of lifestyle and dietary choices for human health has increased the interest in fruits and vegetables, as well as in foods enriched with bioactive compounds and nutraceuticals. In fact, epidemiological studies have consistently shown that the Mediterranean diet, characterized by the daily consumption of fruits and vegetables, is strongly associated with reduced risk of developing a wide range of chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases.

Phytochemicals are secondary metabolites present in fruits and vegetables in low concentrations that have been hypothesized to reduce the risk of several pathological conditions. There are thousands of dietary phytochemicals, namely flavonoids, phenolic acids, glucosinolates, terpenes, alkaloids, between many other classes of compounds, which present different bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hypocholesterolemic, hypoglicemic and other clinically relevant activities. The evidence suggests that the health benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables are attributed to the additive and synergistic interactions between these phytocomponents. Therefore, nutrients and bioactive compounds present in fruits and vegetables should be preferred instead of unnatural and expensive dietary supplements.

In this ebook, we provide an overview about the different classes of phytochemicals commonly found in fruits and vegetables, highlighting their chemical structures, occurrence in fruits and vegetables, biological importance and mechanisms of action. Volume 1 is particularly focused on Mediterranean and Tropical fruits.