Nuts and Nut-Based Products: A Meta-Analysis from Intake Health Benefits and Functional Characteristics from Recovered Constituents

ABSTRACT

This review provides information on nutritional characteristics, extraction techniques, bioactive compounds, bioavailability and bioaccessibility through in vitro and in vivo assays on nuts and food products obtained from walnuts, such as almonds, walnuts, cashew nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, walnuts, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, pine nuts and peanuts. The influence of the consumption of these nuts on human health was carried out through a meta-analysis. Data meta-analysis indicated that nut consumption has a positive effect on total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein levels in the population. Although there are promising studies, more research is needed to determine the beneficial effects of these nuts when applied to products.

Abbreviations: ALA: Alpha Linolenic Acid; Ca: Calcium; CVD: Cardiovascular Disease; CI: Confidence Interval; DBP: Diastolic Blood Pressure; EAE: Enzyme Assisted Extraction; GRAS: Generally Recognized as Safe; HDL: high-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-Density Lipoprotein; Mg: Magnesium; MD: Mean Difference; MAE: Microwave Accelerated Extraction; MUFAS: Monounsaturated Fatty Acids; PUFAS: Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids; K: Potassium; PLE: Pressurized Liquid Extraction; SFAs: Saturated Fatty Acids; SD: Standard Deviation; SFE: Supercritical Fluid Extraction; SBP: Systolic Blood Pressure; UAE: Ultrasound Accelerated Extraction; Zn: Zinc

KEYWORDS:

• Oilseeds
• nut-Based products
• health benefits
• bioactive compounds
• total cholesterol
• lipoprotein-cholesterolfractions

Acknowledgements

The authors J. M. Block and S. R. S. Ferreira would like to thank National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Brazil) for their fellowship (processes n. 311070/2018-3 and 404347/2016-9, respectively). G. Polmann received funding from CAPES for the Doctoral scholarship (Grant n. 88882.344944/2019-01).

Disclosure statement

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

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001.