Plant-based foods

The thiocyanate method involves measurement of the peroxide value using linoleic acid as substrate and has also been widely used to measure the antioxidant activity in plant-based foods such as ginger extracts (Kikuzaki and Nakatani 1993), fruit peels (Larrauri and others 1996 1997), extracts from vegetable by-products (Larrosa and others 2002 Llorach and others 2003 Abas and others 2006 Peschel and others 2006), blueberry juice, wines, and vinegars (Su and Chien 2007). 

Knowledge of the flavonoid content of plant-based foods is paramount to understanding their role in plant physiology and human health. Analytical methods are also important to identify adulteration of beverages, for example. And flavonoids are indispensable markers for chemotaxonomic purposes. 

Anthocyanin Content of Some Plant-Based Food Items... 

Lindsay, D.G. and Clifford, M.N., Special issue devoted to critical reviews produced within the EU Concerted Action Nutritional Enhancement of Plant-based Food in European Trade (NEODIET), J. Sci. Pood Agric., 80, 793, 2000. 

The six principal B6 vitamers are widely distributed in foods (102,103). They include pyridoxine (PN), pyridoxal (PL), pyridoxamine (PM), and their 5 -phosphate esters, pyridoxine phosphate (PNP), pyridoxal phosphate (PLP), and pyridoxamine phosphate (PMP) (Fig. 5). The predominate B6 vitamer in animal-based foods is PLP, whereas plant products generally contain PN and PM or their phosphorylated forms. Conjugated vitamers in the form of PN-glycosides have also been isolated from plant-based foods. Pyridoxal is readily converted to PM during cooking and food processing. Total vitamin B6 is the sum of the six principal vitamers inclusion of the conjugated forms depends on the extraction procedure. 

Recent interlaboratory comparisons of HPLC and microbiological methods for vitamin B6 revealed significant variability among laboratories (42,70). The extraction and hydrolysis of the B6 vitamers, especially the pyridoxine-/ -glucoside (PNG) in plant-based foods, were cited as problem areas. Other sources of analytical error included HPLC (mis)identification of the individual B6 vitamers, and vitamer interconversion during extraction and analysis. 

The best food sources of biotin (Fig. 8) include yeast, liver, soy products, rice, egg yolks, nuts, fish, and chocolate (179,180). Although many foods contain biotin, the levels are normally very low. Endogenous biotin in foods is usually protein bound in general there is more free biotin in plant-based foods than in animal-based products. 

Despite the wide distribution of phenolic compounds in edible plants and the high dietary intake, the health effects of plant phenolic compounds had not been extensively studied until the mid-1990s due to their diversity of species and chemical structures. Epidemiological studies have revealed that dietary consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods and beverages is inversely correlated with the incidences of many diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases [Stevenson and Hurst, 2007]. The evidences from clinical and laboratory studies strongly support... 

Cadmium is present at low concentrations in most foods, with those that are consumed in larger quantities making the largest contribution to the population dietary exposure. Although the concentrations of cadmium in food in the UK are generally low, some foods of minor dietary importance such as shellfish or kidney often contain levels in excess of 0.5 mg/kg. Plant-based foods rarely contain more than 0.2 mg/kg on a fresh weight basis, although some root crops such as carrots and parsnip, and some leafy crops, such as spinach and lettuce, tend to contain more cadmium than other plant foods. This is also true of cereals, which indicates that plants tend to take up cadmium from the soil, unlike lead. 

Considering the critical role of plant-based food to cover the future food demand by a rapidly growing worldwide population, a better knowledge of plant proteins (composition, interactions, adverse effects, allergic reactions, and biopharmaceutical discoveries) becomes a strategic challenge. 

Numerous studies have determined that a diet low in saturated and trans fats can typically reduce cholesterol levels from 5 to 8 percent. That s a good start, of course, but many men and women will need to do more. As noted, however, cutting too far back on fat and protein and eating a diet heavily dominated by plant-based foods may lower the total and the LDL cholesterol, but HDL and triglycerides will be adversely affected. Remember that the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol is a better predictor of heart disease risk than either total or LDL cholesterol. 

Level of ascorbic acid in the diet has been found to be an important factor in determining non-heme iron absorption (6,10,11). Ascorbic acid intake has been found to be more closely correlated to several biochemical parameters of iron nutritional status than was total iron Intake (12). However, timing of consumption is equally important. If non-heme iron absorption is to be increased via this factor, then both the non-heme iron and the ascorbic acid must be consumed at the same time. Considering that important sources of ascorbic acid are all of plant origin, the chances that a shift from more animal-based foods to more plant-based foods will lead to Increased consumption of ascorbic acid are good indeed. However, this is not necessarily the case if the shift moves toward a diet based solely, for example, on highly polished cereals. 

South Beach in Miami Beach is the best place in Florida to find good plant-based foods. Four eateries in the area are featured below. You ll find other options on Ocean... 

Oey, I., Plancken, I. van der., Loey, A. van., and Hendrickx, M. 2008a. Does high pressure processing influence nutritional aspects of plant based food systems Trends in Food Science and Technology 19 300-308. 

Hu FB. Plant-based foods and prevention of cardiovascular disease an overview. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 78 5448-55IS. 

Chapter 9 provides some of the background evidence suggesting a role for phytochemicals in health promotion and disease prevraition. In this chapter Hu reviews and summarizes epidemiological research on plant-based foods and dietary patterns and concludes that there is substantial evidence that healthy plant-based diets—those with adequate omega-3 fatty adds, that arc rich in unsaturated fats, whole grains, fraits and vegetables—can, and should play an important part in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. ... 

Gry, J., Black, L., Eriksen, F.D., PUegaard, K., Plumb, J., Rhodes, M., Sheehan, D., Kiely, M., and Kroon, R, EuroFIR-BASIS—combined composition and biological activity database for bioactive compounds in plant-based food. Trends Food Sci. TechnoL, 18,434—444, 2007. 

Galactose is produced endogenously and accounts for a greater contribution to the total galactose pool than the small amounts of galactose found in plant-based foods. 

Orthosilicic acid is the most readily absorbed form of silicon/silicate in humans (Jugdaosingh et al. 2002). Plants take up orthosilicic acid from the soil, which is transported through the plant in this form and is then mostly deposited in cell lumina and walls as solid amorphous silica deposits often known as phytoliths. Therefore, in plants and plant-based foods, silicon is present as fairly insoluble phytolithic silica, but intestinal uptake proceeds following luminal hydrolysis to orthosilicic acid. 

There is also a paucity of data on the dietary silicon intake of humans, but estimates t3/pically lie in the 20-50 mg/day range for Western populations (Bowen and Peggs 1984 Pennington 1991) and 140-204 mg/day in China and India where plant-based foods predominate in the diet (Jugdaosingh 2007). Bioavailability of this dietary silicon will depend on its ehemical form and probably also the food matrix (Van Dyck et al. 1999 Sripanyakom et al. 2009). The main route of exeretion for sdieon is in urine via the kidneys, but feces also contribute (Pruksa et al. 2014). Silicic acid removal is very efficient with surplus blood levels falling back to equilibrium within a few hours (PoppleweU et al. 1998). Only for dialysis patients is there evidence of systemic accumulation (Gitehnan etal. 1992). 

Thiamine is a relatively simple compound consisting of a pyrimidine and a thiazole ring. It exists naturally in most types of foods as free thiamine and phosphorylated forms including thiamine monophosphate (TMP), thiamine diphosphate or pyrophosphate (TPP), and thiamine triphosphate (TTP) (Tanphaichitr 2001) (Figure 17.1). Although all forms exist in animal and plant foods, thiamine as the free (non-phosphorylated) form is mainly found in plant-based foods whereas, in animal products, 80% of thiamine is represented by TPP and lesser amounts by TMP and triphosphate TTP. 

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