engleski

Herbal Product Development and Characteristics

The arising consumer’s concern for health together with the unhealthy lifestyle have brought back to the use of herbs, commonly used as food and in traditional medicine. There are several properties associated with these products such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, gluco-regulatory, or antithrombotic effects, which would have potential as alternative therapies for the common health problems. These properties are especially attributed to the presence of bioactive compounds (e.g., phenolic compounds) isolated from the green leaves of these plants. Although there are healthy eating models with increased consumption of herbs, as the case with Mediterranean diet, this would not be enough to obtain the desired effects. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate them as dietary supplements to achieve the aforementioned beneficial effects on health using nonfood matrix, for example, pills, capsules, powder, essential oils, extracts, etc. Moreover, these herbal products are useful tools for food production as they tend to extend the shelf life of foods due to their antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

Herbal nutraceuticals ; bioactive compounds ; antioxidant properties ; health benefits ; food preservation

Inozemne ustanove koautora na radu: Centro Tecnológico de la Carne de Galicia, Ourense, Spain ; Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitat de València, València, Spain ; Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Ourense, Ourense, Spain