Instant Insights: Nutraceuticals in fruit and vegetables

This specially curated collection features three reviews of current and key research on nutraceuticals in fruit and vegetables.

The first chapter provides a brief description of the chemistry of bioactive compounds (BCs) and their presence in temperate fruits, and discusses recent advances in strategies towards improving sustainable crop production for nutraceuticals. It examines polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamin C and production practices that influence bioactive compound synthesis.

The second chapter describes the claimed health benefits associated with the antioxidant properties of bioactive compounds found in mangoes, such as vitamin C, phenolics and carotenoids. The chapter also examines specific cell, animal and clinical studies that suggest mango pulp, juice and extract are effective against metabolic diseases and certain forms of cancer.

The final chapter considers how developments such as genetic dissection using fruit ripening mutants, new transgenic plants, and molecular breeding have opened a road map for scientists to further unravel the intricacies and regulation of genes governing fruit quality attributes. Improvements in precision in engineering plant genomes have enabled development of novel tomatoes with marketable traits such as higher carotenoid and anthocyanin content, both beneficial for human health.