Food aroma compounds and their positive effect referring to human health

Introduction: The concentrations and biological effects of nutrients, anti-nutrients and bioactive compounds, including microbes and their constituents, are affected by production and processing steps, the food matrix in which they reside, the way they are digested and metabolized in the human body, and whether or not and in what form they subsequently reach their target site. Nutridynamics, a new scientific concept, aims to unravel the dynamics of these processes by using a systematic approach to study how a food component is affected by the food matrix itself and what it does in the body. This holistic concept has potential synergy with the areas of food technology and nutrigenomics, as well as in the area of the bacterial system in our GIT, and provides a link between food production and the mechanistic effects of bioactive ingredients.

Main goal: Mango fruit are harvested at maturity, well before the fruit are actually ripe. The actual physiological role of sap, which has the typical raw mango aroma, has not been determined en bloc. First it plays a vital role in the protection against the fruit fly. Secondly, the essential oils of various plants, which are rich in terpenoids, are known to possess anti-microbial activity.

Changes in dietary habits, agronomic and processing practices, sources of produces and the emergence of pathogens previously not recognised for their association to raw materials have enhanced the frequency of outbreaks of humans infections. A further issue in the field of aroma compounds and their use: Their ability to inhibit micro-organisms is one of the reasons for the interest in them as components of biological means for prolonging the shelf-life of post-harvest or minimally processed fruits and vegetables.

Conclusion: As a result plants and plant products can represent a source of natural alternatives to improve the shelf-life and the safety of food. In fact, they are characterised by a wide range of volatile compounds, some of which are important flavour quality factors with therapeutic medical effect. Moreover, plant volatiles have been widely used as food flavouring agents and most of them are generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Reference: Nutridynamics – studying the dynamics of food components in products and in the consumer Willem M de Vos, Jacqueline JM Castenmiller, Rob J Hamer and Robert Jan M Brummer, Current Opinion in Biotechnology 2006, 17:217–225

Use of natura aroma compounds to improve shelf-life and safety of minimally processed fruits R. Lanciotti, A. Gianott, F. Patrignani, N. Beletti, M. E. Guerzoni and F. Gardini, Trends in Food Science & Technology 15 (2004) 201–208