A Comprehensive Review on Beneficial Dietary Phytochemicals in Common Traditional Southern African Leafy Vegetables

Overview

Journal Food Sci Nutr

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2018 Jul 10

PMID 29983933

Citations 13

Authors

Dharini Sivakumar

Lingyun Chen

Yasmina Sultanbawa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Regular intake of sufficient amounts of certain dietary phytochemicals was proven to reduce the incidence of noncommunicable chronic diseases and certain infectious diseases. In addition, dietary phytochemicals were also reported to reduce the incidence of metabolic disorders such as obesity in children and adults. However, limited information is available, especially on dietary phytochemicals in the commonly available traditional leafy vegetables. Primarily, the review summarizes information on the major phytochemicals and the impact of geographical location, genotype, agronomy practices, postharvest storage, and processing of common traditional leafy vegetables. The review also briefly discusses the bioavailability and accessibility of major phytochemicals, common antinutritive compounds of the selected vegetables, and recently developed traditional leafy vegetable-based food products for dietary diversification to improve the balanced diet for the consumers. The potential exists for better use of traditional leafy vegetables to sustain food security and to improve the health and well-being of humans.

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