ISSN – 0975-1386

Wesleyan Journal of Research, Vol 14 No 04 (March 2021) Research article: (Business)

A CONCISE OVERVIEW ON NATURAL PHYTOCHEMICALS AND PROBIOTICS AS

Himanshi
Shri Venkateshwara University, Gajraula.
[email protected]

Abhilasha Singh
Orlean College of Pharmacy, Greater Noida

Priya Pandey
Orlean College of Pharmacy, Greater Noida

Nitin Kumar
Parmarth College of Pharmacy, Hapur

Salman Khan
Parmarth College of Pharmacy, Hapur

Abstract
The established link amongst eating habits with bodily processes validates the numerous prospects
of nourishment to preserve or recuperate our wellbeing, ballooning the cognizance in discovering
new victuals with constructive physiological properties. Latterly, one of the highest explore
specialties in nutrition science and technology is the mining and portrayal of new natural
components with biotic activity that can be further fused into a functional food, adding to user’s
vigour. In this review, the highly diverse bioactive compounds were described along with
identification and utilization.
Keywords: Functional foods, Bioactive compounds, nutrition

Article History
*Received: 26/02/2021; Accepted: 02/03/2021
Corresponding author: Himanshi

Introduction: Herbs and its components have fundamental importance in the advancement of
contemporary analyses and knowledge on biologic active ingredients. Vegetables are vital sources
of food, therapeutic and accompanying wellbeing stuff, and the bioactive compounds, products of
metabolism, work in comparable lines in humans and animals1. The reserve of dietetic amalgams
by means of healthiness extends an outstanding potential to progress community health. Anyhow
the intricacies of nutraceuticals in biological operations is not yet wholly comprehended, their

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enhancement in diet milieux is accepted as possessing great promise to moderate ailment
likelihood. Consequently, the scientific reconnoitre ought to offer the indispensable underpinnings
to advance pioneering functional foods with the potential to make bodily benefits or lessen the
enduring hazard of diseases inception. The effectiveness of nutraceutical products in preventing
dis-eases depends on preserving the stability, bioactivity, and bioavailability of the active
ingredients.2 This represents a formidable challenge because only a small pro-portion of molecules
remains available after oral administration, usually due to insufficient gastric residence time, low
permeability and/or solubility in the gut, as well as instability under conditions encountered in
food processing or in gastrointestinal (GI) tract.3

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Besides phytochemicals, probiotic delivery systems have also been widely used with the main
target of reinforcing the natural intestinal flora. These systems are usually categorized in
conventional (pharmaceutical formulations) and non-conventional (mainly food-based) products.
2 Their effectiveness in improving the health status depends mainly on their ability to deliver
viable functional bacteria, overcoming the harsh effects of GI.4 Probiotics have been increasingly
used, but they present two sets of problems: i) their size, and ii) the need to be kept alive. The
delivery of these agents will therefore require food formulations and production techniques to
provide protective mechanisms that maintain the active molecular form until the time of
consumption and its release in the physiological target within the organism.3,5 Once encapsulated
in a biodegradable polymer, cells are easier to handle than in a suspension and their presence in
microparticles can be quantified, allowing the control of their dosage. In addition, their
incorporation enhances the survival of cells during processing and storage .6,7 Besides the benefits
of encapsulating living cells, incorporation of bioactive compounds such as vitamins, prebiotics,
bioactive peptides, non-nutrient carotenoids, phenolic compounds, phytoestrogens, glucosinolates,
phytosterols, fatty acids or structured lipids into food systems, provides a way to develop novel
functional foods that may have physiological benefits or reduce the disease' risk.8,9
Bioactive compounds isolated from plants: Since the beginning of mankind, people use plants for
their nutritional purposes. However, after discovering their medicinal properties, flora became a
useful source of compounds with important roles in preventing/treating diseases and health
improvement in several geographical locations. The ancestral use of herbal plants might be
considered as the basis for using naturally bioactive molecules.10,11 In addition, the World Health
Organization (WHO) predicts that 80% of the world population depends on traditional medicine
as primary healthcare, mainly through the use of plant extracts and their bioactive
compounds.12,13 All living things, from the bacterial cell to the millions of cells in plants, produce
chemicals for their survival and livelihood. The compounds produced by biological systems are
usually divided in two distinct groups: i) primary metabolites - chemical substances (e.g.,
carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins and lipids) essential for cell maintenance, growth and
development; ii) secondary metabolites - substances with low-molecular-weight (phenolic acids,
alkaloids or terpenes) relevant to increase the overall surviving and protection ability, by

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interacting with their surroundings12,14. The production of secondary metabolites in different

species depends on their growth process and the requirements of the species. Several studies have
shown that the production of secondary metabolites depends also on the climate, soil, and crop
conditions (for instance, plants growing in harsh environments produce a greater number of
antioxidants)16-18. Furthermore, and independently of the raw material, the qualitative and
quantitative studies of bioactive compounds from plant materials depend mostly on the selection
of proper extraction methods. These methods are usually affected by common factors, such as the
matrix properties of botanical source, solvent, temperature, pressure, and time .1 The extraction
conditions are so determinant, that the bioactive plant compounds might be classified according to

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the type of extraction: i) hydrophilic or polar compounds (e.g., phenolic acids, flavonoids, organic
acids, sugars); ii) lipophilic or nonpolar compounds (e.g., carotenoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, fatty
acids, tocopherols, steroids). Another common classification criterion is categorizing the bioactive
plant compounds according to their distribution in nature: i) shortly distributed (simple phenols,
pyrocatechol, aldehydes); ii) widely distributed (flavonoids, phenolic acids); and iii) the least
abundant polymers (tannin and lignin).17,20 Phenolic compounds and sterols are two of the main
classes of phytochemicals with a proven track of success as ingredients in functional foods
formulations.
Phenolic compounds: Phenolic compounds are plant secondary metabolites commonly found in
plants and derived products such as berries, apples, citrus fruit, cocoa, grapes, onions, olives,
tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, soybeans, grains and cereals, green and black teas, coffee beans and
red and white wines. It has been estimated that about 8000 compounds naturally occur-ring in
plants are phenols11. Their characteristic structural feature is an aromatic ring with varying
hydroxyl-substitutions (Fig.1).

Despite occurring in free form, these compounds appear mainly in their bound forms, for example
as glycosides or esters. These compounds have diverse biological activity, being mainly
acknowledged for their preventing action against the damage caused by oxidative stress. Due do
their several physiological roles, phenolic compounds are essential for the major cellular
metabolism processes.1, 5, 10 Flavonoids are the most common and widely distributed group of

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plant phenolic compounds. The chemical nature of flavonoids depends on their structural class,
according to the degree of methylation, hydrogenation and hydroxylation and other substitutions
and conjugations. Flavonoids can be divided into a variety of classes such as: flavones, flavanols,
flavonols, flavanonols, flavanones, isoflavones or anthocyanins (Table 2) with different
antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer activities. 10-13

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These compounds have attracted interest due to the discovery of their pharmacological activities

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and health regulation function. Regarding their biological activity, they were previously reported
as having antioxidant, hepatoprotective, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antiviral
effects, besides inhibiting lipid peroxidation.1 Absorption of dietary flavonoids, which occurs
mainly in the small intestine, de-pends on their physiochemical properties. After absorption,
flavonoids are conjugated in the liver or metabolized to smaller compounds. 1,9-11 Tannins are
another well-known example of phenolic compounds with intermediate to high molecular weight.
These substances are polymeric flavonoids that form the anthocyanidins pigments. Some of the
most relevant examples include meat and fish products, pasta8, ice cream, cheese, yogurt and other
dairy products9.
Sterols: Phytosterols, which include plant sterols and stanols7, are currently among the most
successful phytochemicals for the development of functional foods with unique health claims.1
This family includes more than 200 different phytosterols and more than 4000 other types of
triterpenes. Dietary phytosterols were reported as inhibiting the uptake of both dietary and
endogenously produced cholesterol on the intestinal cells and several studies suggest a protective
role of phytosterols against colon, prostate and breast cancer7.While their incorporation in
chocolate, orange juice, cheese, non-fat beverages, meats, croissants and muffins, oil in bread and
cereal bars did not allow great results (considered as cholesterol lowering), when added to fat
spreads, mayonnaise, salad dressings, milk and yoghurt, the obtained results were more
satisfactory7.
Probiotics, prebiotics, and lactic products: Due to their availability in different formulations, lactic
products are one of the top examples of functional foods. Based on their mechanism of action,
lactic fermentation products are usually classified in three groups 6: i) probiotics: viable
microorganisms such as Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria that benefit the host by improving the
intestinal bacterial balance; these live microbial feed supplements associate naturally with the
intestinal mucosa, improving the intestinal microbial balance.
Probiotic bacteria have been increasingly incorporated into a range of products including yogurts,

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cheeses, ice cream, milk powders and frozen dairy desserts5,10; ii) prebiotics: non-digestible food

ingredients, such as oligosaccharides and dietary fibre, that selectively stimulate the growth or
activities of useful intestinal bacteria in the colon, by providing growth enhancers and nutrients to
probiotic bacteria. Basically, prebiotic are non-digestible carbohydrates, mainly obtained by
extraction from plants, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis 1; iii) biogenics: biologically active
molecules such as peptides, flavonoids and carotenoids, that favour the host by direct
immunostimulant, suppression of mutagenesis, tumorigenesis, peroxidation or intestinal
putrefaction. Probiotics and prebiotics improve the balance of the intestinal microbiota by
enhancing the growth of beneficial bacteria and inhibiting the development of harmful bacteria
(immunostimulant), besides inducing the production of biogenic such as anti-bacterial substances
and immunopotentiators6. Probiotic bacteria, besides the immunological effects and the
prevention, protection and eradication of pathogenic bacteria, have been linked to cancer therapy,
besides having been found to be therapeutic in patients with high cholesterol levels. 4
The bacteria associated to these functions, which mainly belong to Lactobacillus and
Bifidobacterium genera (Table 3), have several typical characteristics: metabolic stability,
adherence to the intestinal cell walls, not promoting antibiotic resistance, non-pathogenic, being
safe for consumption and effective in providing health benefits. In fact, there are many systems for
the delivery of probiotics to the GI system, which are categorized in two groups: i) non-
conventional commercial formulations, consisting mainly of food-based-products (cheeses,
yogurts, creams, chocolates, milk and meat, among others), many of which produced using
probiotic bacteria; ii) conventional pharmaceutical systems (e.g., beads, capsules and tablets),
usually more effective in this regard and more well-characterized, comparing to commercial food-
based-carrier systems. Each type of formulation has been found to possess advantages in the

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delivery of probiotics, with each one showing differences in their effectiveness to deliver the
correct amount of bacteria to the human intestinal system as well as in providing protection to the
dosed probiotic bacteria4 .
Conclusions: The beginning of the third millennium is being characterized by an increasing life
expectancy and a great coverage of health-related issues by the media. Generally, consumers are
more interested in new food products, whose functions go beyond the nutritional and sensory role,
having also potential benefits over the physiological functions, ultimately controlling and
preventing diseases. In this context, overall preferences are moving towards products that can
produce metabolic and physiological effects, ensuring health and wellbeing by restoring the
balance of intestinal flora, counteracting the oxidative stress, or stimulating the immune response.
Considering the present marketing demands and technological obstacles to overcome, the future
development of functional foods will probably include: i) improving the solubility of lipophilic
compounds in high moisture beverages; ii) stabilising sensitive compounds such as vitamins,
flavours, essential oils or unsaturated fatty acids; iii) preserving the physical characteristics of a
foodstuff under stress conditions like freezing, thawing, microwaving, blanching, or pasteurising;
iv) prevent oxidation processes.
The development of novel foodstuffs is particularly challenging because the cornerstone aspects
of product safety, preparation mode and sensory quality, cannot be hampered by the incorporated
bioactive compounds. In addition, besides selecting the bioactive molecule, it is essential to assure
a suitable delivery profile, considering biodegradability and biocompatibility concerns. In fact,
there is not an ideal delivery system since each of the available ones has its advantages and
limitations. Another important consideration to bear in mind is the need to adopt a
multidisciplinary approach. In fact, when the theme is food, we can never forget that the accurate
knowledge of the food microstructure and how it might improve consumers' health should always
go along with a high level of creativity and taste-fulness. This is undoubtedly the right way to
achieve successful outcomes.
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