Vegetables as Source of Functional Foods and Nutraceutical: Their Role in Disease Prevention

Yepshak; Nanyen Bitrus

doi:10.56201/rjfsqc.vol.12.no6.2026.pg28.39

📄 Download Paper

Vegetables as Source of Functional Foods and Nutraceutical: Their Role in Disease Prevention

Yepshak, Nanyen Bitrus

Abstract

The increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer worldwide has attracted considerable attention towards diet as a strategy for disease prevention. Vegetables are examined as functional foods, and source of nutraceuticals in the prevention and health promotion against chronic diseases. Vegetables are found to be rich in macronutrients, micronutrients, and fiber content, along with numerous bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, glucosinolates, organosulfur compounds and phytosterols. Clinical, epidemiological, and experimental studies show that these compounds show both anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, anti- carcinogenic, and metabolic regulatory effects on the body through several biological mechanisms. The consumption of vegetables has been inversely associated with incidence of ischemic heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. This article also covers the trends of developments in the vegetable-based nutraceuticals: nutrigenomics, nanotechnology mediated delivery of nutrients, use of microgreens and agricultural by-products as source of high value bioactives. Even with these exciting trends, we are faced with issues such as bioavailability, phytochemical variability and human clinical trial paucity and regulatory concerns. It is concluded that vegetables form an essential part of preventative nutrition. Increasing the access of vegetables in our diet and vegetables derived nutraceuticals would make a significant impact in alleviating the problem of global NCDs, both health-wise and economic-wise.

Keywords

Functional foods; Nutraceuticals; Vegetables; Bioactive compounds; Disease prevention; Non-communicable.

References

Awuchi, C. G., & Okpala, C. O. R. (2022). Natural nutraceuticals, especially functional foods, their major bioactive components, formulation, and health benefits for disease prevention: An overview. Journal of Food Bioactives, 19, 97–123. Coates, M. M., Kintu, A., Gupta, N., Wroe, E. B., Adler, A. J., Kwan, G. F., Park, P. H., Rajbhandari, R., Byrne, A. L., Casey, D. C., & Bukhman, G. (2020). Burden of non- communicable diseases from infectious causes in 2017: A modelling study. The Lancet Global Health, 8(12), e1489–e1498. Di Cesare, M. (2019). Global trends of chronic non-communicable diseases risk factors. European Journal of Public Health, 29(Supplement_4), ckz185-196. Fabela-Morón, M. F. (2024). Bioactive compounds, sensory attributes, and flavor perceptions involved in taste-active molecules in fruits and vegetables. Frontiers in Nutrition, 11, 1427857. Favela‐González, K. M., Hernández‐Almanza, A. Y., & De la Fuente‐Salcido, N. M. (2020). The value of bioactive compounds of cruciferous vegetables (Brassica) as antimicrobials and antioxidants: A review. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 44(10), e13414. GBD 2015 Risk Factors Collaborators. (2016). Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990–2015: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. The Lancet, 388(10053), 1659–1724. Hambleton, I. R., Caixeta, R., Jeyaseelan, S. M., Luciani, S., & Hennis, A. J. M. (2023). The rising burden of non-communicable diseases in the Americas and the impact of population aging: A secondary analysis of available data. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 21, 100483. Jakovljevic, M. B., & Milovanovic, O. (2015). Growing burden of non-communicable diseases in the emerging health markets: The case of BRICS. Frontiers in Public Health, 3, 65. Jalgaonkar, K., Mahawar, M. K., Bibwe, B., Nath, P., &Girjal, S. (2019). Nutraceuticals and functional foods. In Trends & Prospects in Processing of Horticultural Crops (pp. 231- 250). Today & Tomorrow’s Printers and Publishers. Javed, M. I., Akbar, M. W., & Rasool, A. (2019). Vegetables as a source of important nutrients and bioactive compounds: Their human health benefits. MOJ Food Processing & Technology, 7(4), 136–146. Kim, M. K., & Park, J. H. Y. (2009). Cruciferous vegetable intake and the risk of human cancer: Epidemiological evidence. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 68, 103–110. Martirosyan, D., & Ekblad, J. (2022). Functional foods classification system. Functional Foods Science, 2(4), 94-123. Nicolescu, A., et al. (2023). Nutraceuticals and functional foods. Frontiers in Nutrition, 10, 1184535. Onoruoiza, M. A., Ayodele, A. M., & David-Momoh, T. E. (2024). A review on the effects of functional food on humans and microorganisms. International Journal of Probiotics and Dietetics, 4(1), 01-14. Panwar, S. S., Chauhan, J. K., Noopur, K., Panwar, N., Pradhan, K., Kumar, L., & Panwar, A. S. (2024). Disease prevention in human through bioactive medicinal molecules of vegetables: A review. Indian Res. J. Ext. Edu, 24(2), 95-105. Ramya, V., & Patel, P. (2019). Health benefits of vegetables. International Journal of Chemical Studies, 7(2), 82-87. Saka, A. K., &Acikgoz, M. A. (2025). Plant-derived bioactives from vegetables: A natural approach to combat metabolic disorders.International Studies in the Field of Horticultural Plant Cultivation and Breeding, 55-76. Sharma, R., Kumar, S., Kumar, V., & Thakur, A. (2019). Comprehensive review on nutraceutical significance of phytochemicals as functional food ingredients for human health management. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 8(5), 385-395. Singh, S., & Devi, M. B. (2015). Vegetables as a potential source of nutraceuticals and phytochemicals: A review. International Journal of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 5(2), 1-14. Stanaway, J. D., Afshin, A., Ashbaugh, C., Bisignano, C., Brauer, M., Ferrara, G., ... & Murray, C. J. (2022). Health effects associated with vegetable consumption: a Burden of Proof study. Nature medicine, 28(10), 2066-2074. Upadhyay, R. K. (2022). Chronic non-communicable diseases: Risk factors, disease burden, mortalities and control. Acta Scientific Medical Sciences, 6(4), 153-170. Wang, K., Chen, Z., Shen, M., Chen, P., Xiao, Y., Fang, Z., ... & Zhou, S. (2023). Dietary fruits and vegetables and risk of cardiovascular diseases in elderly Chinese. European journal of public health, 33(6), 1088-1094. Woodside, J. V., Nugent, A. P., Moore, R. E., & McKinley, M. C. (2023). Fruit and vegetable consumption as a preventative strategy for non-communicable diseases. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 82(2), 186-199. Yepshak, N. B., Saidu, G. M. Dapas, A. E. and Bale E. Z. (2024). Nutritional Content of some Lesser known Vegetables in Jos, Plateau State. Journal of the Society for Human Ecologists. 5(1),115-123. Yepshak, N. B., Saidu, G. M. and Dapas, A. E. (2025). Use of Vegetables to Manage Diabetes in Diabetes Induced Rats.International Journal of Health and Pharmaceutical Research10(2), 66-79.

Vegetables as Source of Functional Foods and Nutraceutical: Their Role in Disease Prevention

Abstract

Keywords

References

More Articles from RESEARCH JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND QUALITY CONTROL