Review of the Role of Fluid Dairy in Delivery of Polyphenolic Compounds in the Diet: Chocolate Milk, Coffee Beverages, Matcha Green Tea, and Beyond.

Dairy-based functional beverages have been a growing segment as consumer demands for health foods have shifted focus from simply enhancing lifespan to protecting health. Green tea is often limited in use because of poor bioavailability and disagreeable taste. However, milk is considered an ideal platform for the delivery of active polyphenolic compounds in green tea. Furthermore, the antioxidant enzymatic activity and antioxidant index of polyphenols in green tea have been known to be protected through interaction with dairy proteins inside the unstable intestinal environment. In addition, consumption of green tea infused with milk has been found to have a significant impact on reducing skin wrinkles and roughness in elderly subjects, through a decrease in lipid peroxidation and a concomitant reduction in oxidative stress. A similar affinity has been observed between antioxidants in coffee and milk proteins. Dark chocolate has been known to contain significant phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The activation of protein complex NF-κB, which is responsible for cell survival, was found to be significantly reduced upon consumption of cocoa with water, whereas consuming cocoa with milk had no effect on the bioavailability of the phenolic compounds in cocoa. The popularity of dairy as the source for polyphenol fortified beverages in the diet will be dictated by optimization of the technology for maximizing the bioavailability of the antioxidants.

Polyphenols and Functional Foods from the Regulatory Viewpoint.

The aim of the present article is to give a bird's eye view of polyphenols in the European legislation and its applications according to the European Food Safety Authority, particularly regarding labeling for consumer protection in the European market. Polyphenols are given much attention by consumers because of their health effects and are exploited by food producers. Consequently, a study on cases relating to claims about polyphenols cannot leave out of consideration a panoramic about the legal framework regarding European Regulations on nutrition claims. In this ambit, the general framework is the European Commission Regulation No. 1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims made on foods; it sets the basic legal rules about nutrition claims in the European Union. Because of the possible allowed use of health claims about polyphenols, many applications have been made by food business operators. At present, the use of health claims related to polyphenols in the European market is limited only to olive oil polyphenols. All other formulations so far proposed relating to other foods have been rejected by the European Authority, being judged as lacking substantial scientific evidence.

Studies on the Determination of Antioxidant Activity and Phenolic Content of Plant Products in India (2000-2017).

Background: Ayurveda, the traditional Indian therapeutic system, involves herbs and spices as drug ingredients and a kind of food intake regulation. The health and curative aspects of plant products are often ascribed to their antimicrobial and antioxidant activities (AA). However, it seems somewhat possible to correlate the AA of herbal extracts or plant isolates with their phenolic contents (PC). Objective: Indian researchers have carried out some tests for the determination of AA and PC of plant products that are worth mentioning. Methods: Among the herbal analysis techniques, the important contributions of Indians and people of Indian origin in this field include the remarkable separation of phenolic compounds, including the use of reversed-phase columns, on-line HPLC, the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay to effectively screen and identify antioxidant compounds from herbal extracts, and other chromatographic, spectrographic, and spectroscopic techniques, in the analysis of complex biological matrices. Results: The aim of this paper is to present an overview of such arguments with reference to herbal drugs and food intake regulation for specific ailments. Conclusions: The lack of uniformity in the use of test protocols for antioxidant assays (particularly using the DPPH free radical) and differences in in vitro mechanisms of antiradical activity and in vivo metabolism of polyphenols have been the issues associated with these experiments that have been raised by researchers in the period from 2000 onward.