Department of Food and Experimental Nutrition. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Food Research Center (FoRC), University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2023;63(10):1352-1389. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2021.1963945. Epub 2021 Aug 13.
Monoterpenes, volatile metabolites produced by plants, are involved in the taste and aroma perception of fruits and vegetables and have been used for centuries in gastronomy, as food preservatives and for therapeutic purposes. Biological activities such as antimicrobial, analgesic and anti-inflammatory are well-established for some of these molecules. More recently, the ability of monoterpenes to regulate energy metabolism, and exert antidiabetic, anti-obesity and gut microbiota modulation activities have been described. Despite their promising health effects, the lack of reliable quantification of monoterpenes in food, hindered the investigation of their role as dietary bioactive compounds in epidemiological studies. Moreover, only few studies have documented the biotransformation of these compounds and identified the monoterpene metabolites with biological activity. This review presents up-to-date knowledge about the occurrence of monoterpenes in food, their bioavailability and potential role in the modulation of intermediate metabolism and inflammation, focusing on novel findings of molecular mechanisms, underlining research gaps and new avenues to be explored.
单萜类化合物是植物产生的挥发性代谢物,参与了水果和蔬菜的味道和香气感知,并且在烹饪、食品防腐剂和治疗用途方面已经使用了几个世纪。这些分子中的一些具有良好的抗菌、镇痛和抗炎等生物活性。最近,单萜类化合物调节能量代谢以及发挥抗糖尿病、抗肥胖和调节肠道微生物群的能力也得到了描述。尽管它们具有有前景的健康影响,但由于食品中单萜类化合物的定量缺乏可靠性,阻碍了它们作为饮食生物活性化合物在流行病学研究中的作用的研究。此外,只有少数研究记录了这些化合物的生物转化,并确定了具有生物活性的单萜代谢物。本文综述了关于食物中单萜类化合物的最新知识,包括它们的生物利用度以及在调节中间代谢和炎症方面的潜在作用,重点介绍了分子机制的新发现,强调了研究差距和有待探索的新途径。