Phytochemicals

What are Phytochemicals?
Phytochemicals are non-nutritive chemicals found in plants. They naturally have preventative properties. They are nonessential nutrients, meaning that they are not required by the human body for sustaining life. Plants produce these chemicals to protect themselves but recent research demonstrate that they can also protect humans against diseases. There are more than thousand known phytochemicals. Some of the well-known phytochemicals are lycopene in tomatoes, isoflavones in soy and flavanoids in fruits.

ISOLATION/SYNTHESES, CELLULAR ABSORPTION, AND MOLECULAR FUNCTIONS OF BIO-ACTIVE PHYTOCHEMICALS

By Jae B. Park, Ph.D., BHNRC, ARS, USDA (as published on the USDA website)Numerous epidemiological studies have correlated human consumption of diets rich in fruits and vegetables containing high levels of phytochemicals to lower risk for specific chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Phytochemicals are widely distributed in plant-derived foods of the typical U.S. diet. These compounds have been reported to contribute to numerous purported beneficial health effects. However, understanding the specific biological mechanisms involved, relative to human diseases, presents challenging and researchable taskes. Without adequate definitive information on cellular absorption and molecular functions of phytochemicals, it is not possible to accurately assess their beneficial effects on human health. Moreover, optimal but safe intakes of phytochemicals have yet to be determined; these data must be generated before any recommendations of phytochemicals can be made. Therefore, a research project has been proposed to gain information on the cellular absorption and molecular functions of various phytochemicals, which might lead us to a better understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms and to elucidating their beneficial effects.

The proposed research is particularly focused on phytochemicals from several plants including wolfberry, safflower, coco and other plants with potential health effects.

Objectives
1. Purification and/or Syntheses of Bio- Active Phytochemicals:
To purify and/or synthesize bio-active phytochemicals.
2. Bio-availability of Phytochemicals:
To delineate the mechanisms of phytochemical absorption and determine bio-availability of phytochemicals.
3. Cellular and Molecular Actions of Phytochemicals:
To determine cellular and molecular mechanisms related to human diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and aging.
4. Construction of Inter-related Plant, Phytochemical and Bio-activity Databases related to Human Chronic Diseases:
To build inter-related plant, phytochemical and activity databases related to human diseases such as inflammation, obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, cancer and aging.