Detection of Bioactive Compounds in Plants and Food Products

摘要

Reliable quantitative data on bioactive compounds in food are essential in agriculture in choosing cultivars/varieties and optimizing production and post-harvest handling conditions; in food technology in selecting raw materials and in monitoring and controlling degradation during processing and storage; in nutrition and public health in assessing adequacy of dietary intake and formulating dietary recommendations/guidelines; in the medical sciences in establishing associations between dietary intake and disease prevention. Health claims resulting from the data obtained in the studies on bioactive compounds composition in food have large influence on public opinion, industrial sector and market as well. This fact calls for great responsibility of food professionals in using analytical methods for quality control in the growing functional food industry. Therefore, fast, accurate and nondestructive detection approaches are required as methods of quality control in the production of functional ingredients or applied to raw materials and finished products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic or functional food industries. Accurate estimation of bioactive compounds will enable researchers to correctly evaluate the role of bioactive compounds in health, provide precise dietary and safety guidelines on consumption of these compounds, allow manufacturers, consumers, and marketing professionals to differentiate quality value-added products from the conventional ones.