Foreword

For centuries, humans have considered food only as an “energy” source for survival. Clarification of nutritional relevant components, as protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, was determinant to understand metabolic needs, and to adjust consumption patterns. However, this oversimplified definition of food resulted in processed foods composed by mixtures of ingredients rich in these components, while diet is increasingly claimed as being responsible for the most common diseases of modern society: cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and cancer.

When we look upon food from this simplified perspective, it is as if we are regarding food without its “soul”. Indeed, although being difficult to demonstrate causality between food and health, there is now appreciable epidemiologic evidence for the protective role of diets rich in fruits and vegetables, being the Mediterranean diet an interesting example. These foods have thousands of components without nutritional essentiality that have been neglected. The interest on these components has increased tremendously in the last two decades, seeking to identify the dietary bioactive components (i.e., those that have a measurable impact on human health), their amounts, and availability. Simultaneously, it is also becoming clear that each one of these components has different effects and potencies when ingested alone or when taking its part in the complex network of molecules present in whole foods. These are amazing days for food scientists because we are closer to understand these bioactive compounds, while the consumer is following closely scientific advances, being increasingly interested in the health properties of foods.

The editors took an enormous and successful effort to assemble a huge variety of knowledge on different natural bioactive components in foods, bringing together experts working of different fields of food composition and health. Following a first volume on fruits, this second volume was written to provide readers with a comprehensive review of bioactive constituents in several legumes, nuts, seeds and cereals, from the most traditional ones, as rice or tomatoes, to emerging potentials in modern nutrition, as quinoa or coffee residues. This assembled knowledge allows the reader to get acquainted with the most promising bioactive compounds in different foods, understand the care needed to preserve their bioactivity during storage or processing, while revealing also the hidden bioactive potential of commonly rejected parts, as shells or seeds.