A diet rich in vegetables has been associated with a reduced risk of many diseases related to aging and modern lifestyle. Over the past several decades, many researches have pointed out the direct relation between the intake of bioactive compounds present in tomato and a reduced risk of suffering different types of cancer. These bioactive constituents comprise phytochemicals such as carotenoids and polyphenols. The direct intake of these chemoprotective molecules seems to show higher efficiencies when they are ingested in its natural biological matrix than when they are ingested isolated or in dietary supplements. Consequently, there is a growing trend for improvement of the contents of these bioactive compounds in foods. The control of growing environment and processing conditions can ensure the maximum potential accumulation or moderate the loss of bioactive compounds, but the best results are obtained developing new varieties via plant breeding. The modification of single steps of metabolic pathways or their regulation via conventional breeding or genetic engineering has offered excellent results in crops such as tomato. In this review, we analyse the potential of tomato as source of the bioactive constituents with cancer-preventive properties and the result of modern breeding programs as a strategy to increase the levels of these compounds in the diet.
Tomato as a Source of Carotenoids and Polyphenols Targeted to Cancer Prevention
Raúl Martí,S. Roselló,J. Cebolla-Cornejo
Published 2016 in Cancers
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2016
- Venue
Cancers
- Publication date
2016-06-01
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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