Novel antioxidants in food quality preservation and health promotion

Abstract

Autoxidation in food and biological systems is responsible for a multitude of adverse effects and implications in human health as well as in food stability and preservation. Antioxidants play a major role in preventing or delaying autoxidation and have attracted much attention as food stabilizers, dietary supplements and natural health products. Both synthetic and natural antioxidants are widely used in food products and an ever increasing number of research papers have appeared in the recent literature on the discovery and application of natural antioxidants and their therapeutic use in inhibiting a myriad of diseases. However, some common synthetic antioxidants have also become controversial due to their potential adverse effects on health. This overview provides the latest developments about novel antioxidants, particularly phenolic derivatives, peptides/protein hydrolysates, phospholipids and polysaccharides, and their role in food quality preservation and human health promotion.

A comparative study on the antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties of curcumin conjugated gold nanospheres and free curcumin

“…Antioxidant defenses mechanism plays an important role in checking the level of ROS and RNS in the living systems (Lai et al, 2001;Gulcin et al, 2002). Enzymatic antioxidants remove free radicals by converting various ROS and RNS into H 2 O 2 and water while non-enzymatic antioxidants perform their defensives mechanisms by breaking free radical chain reactions (Shahidi and Zhong, 2010 Similarly, it has been reported that SOD, an antioxidant enzyme, plays an important role in quenching ROS (Imlay, 2013), thereby converting superoxide anions into H 2 O 2 which are then converted to oxygen (O 2 ) and water (H 2 O) after being catalyzed by catalase enzymes. From the results, it can be concluded that the antioxidant defense properties of cAuNps are significantly higher as compared to curcumin as evident from both SOD and catalase assays.…”

Tryptophan-containing milk protein-derived dipeptides inhibit xanthine oxidase

“…Certain amino acid structures have been correlated with high antioxidant properties. These include amino acids with sulfur residues (Cys and Met) and aromatic structures (Trp, Tyr, His and Phe) [19,48,60,73,75]. Phenol and indole groups in amino acids can act as potential hydrogen donors [70,73,75].…”

“…Milk proteins, peptide sequences encrypted within the primary structures of the milk proteins and amino acids have also been associated with the regulation of postprandial glycaemia and insulin secretion in normoglycaemic and type 2 diabetic subjects [24,26,56,57,61,72]. Different studies have demonstrated the anti-oxidative role of milk proteins and peptides [19,53,70,75,83]. A fraction from human milk enriched in Trp has been identified for its high scavenging activity in vitro [84].…”

Lycopene as a natural antioxidant

“…A wide range of substances have been identified as antioxidants exerting their oxidationinhibitory effects by different mechanisms [1,2]. However, the list of lipophilic natural oxidants is limited.…”