Functional grapes

Abstract

Grape is one of the earliest cultivated plants all around the world. Health-benefiting grape properties have been widely studied in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo. These properties are mainly attributed to phenolic composition, which is also responsible for many quality properties. Grape contains anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanols, hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, hydroxybenzoic acids, and stilbenes. All these show bioactivity and, therefore, antioxidant, cardioprotective, anticarcinogenic, neuroprotective, and other activities are nowadays associated with grape consumption. Clinical studies on the intake of grape or grape derivative products report positive results. For this reason, numerous food products are enriched with different types of grape extracts. Grape extracts are added to meat, fish, dairy products, bread, and beverages so as to increase their nutritional value. The functional product market is an emerging market, and this type of products can be expected to increase in the near future. In this sense, further research is required.