The research activity of the group falls in the field of the Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant-Derived Foods, in which polyphenols have been the main target of research. The group can be considered a reference in some aspects of polyphenols in foods and particularly fruits and vegetables, and their role in quality and health.

Although the field can be regarded as well developed, there is still no unambiguous confirmation of the specific effects of polyphenols on human health, and the basis of polyphenols in food quality, particularly related to browning and astringency needs to be better understood.

New Research Areas

During the last 5 years, some new research areas, with the parallel development of new equipment and methodologies, have emerged in the field and allow a new and more comprehensive view of the research goals, that will lead to advances in the knowledge about the role of polyphenols in foods.

Advances in Metabolomics, Nutrigenetics and Microbiomics and the associated methodologies have become available to Food Scientists and can have a direct impact on polyphenol research, to advance in understanding the role of polyphenols in food quality and its health effects. The relevant role of gut microbiota in the potential health effects of food polyphenols has also started to be considered a key factor.

Challenges and Opportunities

The food polyphenol research has still the challenge to demonstrate its role in human health through the diet, as previous studies have failed to demonstrate it due to the large inter-individual variability observed. The new generated knowledge and the methodologies available open an opportunity to advance in understanding the role of polyphenols in human health through genetic and microbiota stratification, and this paves the way for personalized nutrition, and the development of specific food products for population groups.

Application to Plant Sciences

In addition, the available methodologies and knowledge have still to be applied to the field of plant sciences, and particularly in plants of interest as food products. This field is not developed in the same extent as human and animal studies, and will enable advances to understand the role of polyphenols and other secondary metabolites in plants and in their effect in the quality of plant-derived food products. This will show metabolic changes occurring during fresh-cut processing, and their correlation with quality loss events (browning, off-flavors), and will enable the search for specific biomarkers in different cultivars that can correlate with browning susceptibility.