Fruits and Vegetables and its Nutritional Benefits

Recent studies have focused on the significance of bioactive compounds of living resources in alleviating deteriorative mechanisms and their influence to prevent or reduce the occurrence of degenerative diseases. The new compounds with specific roles in human metabolism have been noticed to encourage food technologists to develop new processes and technologies for preserving the beneficial characteristics of these compounds. The benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables are attributed to their nutrients, vitamin content and variety of natural health-promoting bioactive polyphenolic compounds. These polyphenolic compounds include non-flavonoids (phenolic acids and stilbenes) and flavonoids (flavonols, flavanones, flavones, isoflavones and anthocyanidins). Polyphenolic compounds have been documented to possess a wide range of biological and pharmacological activities in the prevention of common diseases and illnesses including cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, cancer and gastrointestinal disorders. In the form of functional foods, fruits and vegetables provide health benefits beyond the provision of essential nutrients. Some fruits and vegetables are marketed as super foods as they offer important nutrients which can power pack meals and enhance healthy eating pattern. The health benefits of some fruits and vegetables were discussed in this chapter.