Synbiotic and antioxidant activity of fruit by-products and their effect on human health
Beauty Akter, Rabeta Mohd Salleh
Abstract
Food supplements are extensively used as a natural remedy to improve human health condition. Considerable progress has been reported recently by several studies to analyse the bioactive substances and their functional activities of fruit by-product. The food industry generates a vast amount of wastes during manufacturing or processing, which are mainly skins, kernels, and seeds. These by-products contain valuable bioactive compounds such as antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and indigestible food ingredients called prebiotics. Peels from fruits like yellow rambutan, green kiwi, mango, and papaya exhibit a strong anti-proliferative, anti-cardiovascular, anti-oxidant, and hepatoprotective effects due to the presence of bioactive compounds namely flavonoid, B-type catechin dimer, and penta-O-galloyl-glucoside. This review will illustrate a new concept of functional foods by providing information on alternative sources of bioactive compounds from food by-product and their efficacy in human nutrition. This study will also recapitulate the presence of bioactive components in fruit by-product, their way of action, constitution, health benefits, and probable therapeutic action in the treatment of disease prevention.