Advances in Polyphenol Research from Chile: A Literature Review

ABSTRACT

Certain countries have the privilege of diverse ecosystems that allow access to wide food availability. This fact carries an intrinsic diversity in bioactive compounds such as phytochemicals, especially polyphenols. The aim of this review is to summarize the advances in polyphenols research which have been conducted in Chile, with a focus on polyphenol-rich foods and health-related outcomes. In the first part, several studies that have analyzed food sources rich in polyphenols are presented. This is followed by a description of in vitro and in vivo studies from Chile that have evaluated the polyphenol compounds of Chilean foods or their extracts along with their biological activity or health effects. Most polyphenol studies in our search have an in vitro experimental design where mainly protective activities are tested. The antioxidant effect is remarkable in all studies. As well as discussing the future direction of dietary assessment and the approach to biomarkers in this field, currently, additional emphasis and research investment are necessary to explore more native foods with an added value.

Abbreviations: TPC: total Phenolic Content; PEE: phenolic-enriched extract; PAs: proanthocyanidins; 24 HDR: 24-hour dietary recall; FFQ: food frequency questionnaires.

KEYWORDS:

• Food sources
• polyphenol-rich foods
• diet
• health
• chile

Acknowledgments

On behalf of ELHOC-Chile Research Consortium

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

F.L., and R.Z-R conceived the conceptualization and methodology; F.L. did the literature searches, data collection, analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. R.Z-R and C.A-L supervised the first draft of the manuscript. F.P-R and C.C-M revised the first draft of the manuscript. F.L., R.Z-R., F.P-R., MA.M-S., C.T-P., AM.L., AM.L-O., G.N., K.R-A., N.U., N.L-L., S.P-S., M.M., M.V., DF.G-D., C.A-L and C.C-M critically reviewed, edited and contributed to the final version of the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

FL receives financial support from the Chilean Government for doing his PhD by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID)/ Food and Nutrition Doctoral Program/ DOCTORADO BECAS CHILE/2019 – 72200061. The FL PhD program at the University of Barcelona is partially funded by CIBERfes (co-funded by the FEDER Program from the European Union); the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Agency AGAUR (2017 SGR1546) and ICREA Academia Award 2018.