The consumption of plant sprouts as part of human day-to-day diets is gradually increasing, and their health benefit is attracting interest across multiple disciplines. The purpose of this review was to (a) critically evaluate the phytochemicals in selected sprouts (alfalfa, buckwheat, broccoli, and red cabbage), (b) describe the health benefits of sprouts, (c) assess the recent advances in sprout production, (d) rigorously evaluate their safety, and (e) suggest directions that merit special consideration for further novel research on sprouts. Young shoots are characterized by high levels of health-benefitting phytochemicals. Their utility as functional ingredients have been extensively described. Tremendous advances in the production and safety of sprouts have been made over the recent past and numerous reports have appeared in mainstream scientific journals describing their nutritional and medicinal properties. However, subjects such as application of sprouted seed flours in processed products, utilizing sprouts as leads in the synthesis of nanoparticles, and assessing the dynamics of a relationship between sprouts and gut health require special attention for future clinical exploration. Sprouting is an effective strategy allowing manipulation of phytochemicals in seeds to improve their health benefits.
Obesity is a condition that leads to increased health problems associated with metabolic disorders. Synthetic drugs are available for obesity treatment, but some of these compounds have demonstrated considerable side effects that limit their use. Polyphenols are vital phytonutrients of plant origin that can be incorporated as functional food ingredients. This review presents recent developments in dietary polyphenols as anti-obesity agents. Evidence supporting the potential application of food-derived polyphenols as agents against obesity has been summarized. Literature evidence supports the effectiveness of plant polyphenols against obesity. The anti-obesity mechanisms of polyphenols have been explained by their potential to inhibit obesity-related digestive enzymes, modulate neurohormones/peptides involved in food intake, and their ability to improve the growth of beneficial gut microbes while inhibiting the proliferation of pathogenic ones. Metabolism of polyphenols by gut microbes produces different metabolites with enhanced biological properties. Thus, research demonstrates that dietary polyphenols can offer a novel path to developing functional foods for treating obesity. Upcoming investigations need to explore novel techniques, such as nanocarriers, to improve the content of polyphenols in foods and their delivery and bioavailability at the target sites in the body.
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the physical characteristics, nutritional composition and anti-nutritional factors of grains from three lablab bean varieties with different colours and size developed by The Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) Methodology and results: The length, thickness and width were determined using Vernier callipers. Dry matter, protein, fat and ash were determined using standard association of official analytical chemists (AOAC) methods. Phytates were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), while the tannins and trypsin inhibition were determined by UV spectrophotometry. The mean 100 seed weight was significantly different among the three varieties, and ranged from 26.1 g to 29.2 g. The length, thickness and width ranged from 9.7 for KAT/DL-3 to 10.7 mm for KAT/DL-1, 5.2 (KAT/DL-1) to 5.6 mm (KAT/DL-2) and 6.8 (KAT/DL-3) to 7.4 mm (KAT/DL-1), respectively. The hydration and swelling coefficients of the beans ranged from 130.7 in KAT/DL-2 to 147.2 in KAT/DL-1, and 125.1 in KAT/DL-2 to 153.3 (KAT/DL-1), respectively. The mean crude protein and energy contents varied from 22.5(KAT/DL-3) to 25.4 %,( KAT/DL-1) and 347.4 (KAT/DL-3) to 353.7 KCal/100g in KAT/DL-1, respectively, and differed significantly (p<0.05) among the varieties. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in the phytic acid and tannin levels, where KAT/DL-2 recorded the highest levels of 723.6 mg/100 g, and 0.33%CE, respectively. Conclusion and application of findings: These results indicate that KAT/DL-1 has the best physical characteristics in respect to cooking and nutrition quality. This variety had the highest protein and energy content with low anti-nutritional factors, thus could offer better nutritive value in comparison to KATDL-2 and KAT/DL-3
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