Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Carotenoids
Lycopene has been suggested to play a protective role
against other diseases such as
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β
Dietary fiber
Many of the oligosaccharides that are partly digestible or
not digestible are fermented easily by the intestinal bac-
teria in the large intestine and are not excreted from the
body in their native form. The intestinal bacteria metabo-
lize oligosaccharides readily and produce large amounts of
short chain fatty acids. As a result, the pH in the lumen of
the colon decreases to an acidic pH. The resultant acidic pH
stimulates the growth of the beneficial bacteria such as
Lac-
tobacillus
sp. and
Bifidobacterium
sp., which are resistant
to the acidic pH, while the growth of the harmful bacte-
ria such as
Clostridium sp.
, which are acid sensitive are
suppressed (Hidaka et al., 1983). Concurrently, the intesti-
nal microbe population increases and enhances the fecal
volume in such a way that constipation is minimized.
SUMMARY
It is important is to understand that maintaining a diet that
contains a variety of tropical and subtropical fruits will
provide a range of phytochemicals/bioactive compounds
to help humans achieve optimal health. Nonetheless, to
obtain optimal beneficial effects from the phytochemi-
cals/bioactive compounds requires an approach that mod-
ifies the diet of people in developed countries, which in-
cludes reducing intake of high-fat and high-sugar foods
while increasing intake of fruits and vegetables. The high-
sugar and high-fat foods typical of a Western diet are well
known to have damaging effects that promote develop-
ment of coronary heart diseases, tumors, cancer, inflamma-
tion, gastromucosal ulcers, diabetes, skin photo-oxidative
stress, and arteriosclerosis. Unfortunately, these damaging
effects are exacerbated by the lack or presence of lim-
ited amounts of phytochemicals to counter the negative
effects. The higher intake of phytochemicals from tropical
and subtropical fruits besides from other sources can ben-
efit human health significantly, especially with respect to
the ever-growing list of degenerative diseases.
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