Abstract
Plant-based foods (such as fruit and vegetables, wine, nuts, natural vegetable oils,
and whole grains) are an important component of traditional diets in Mediterranean
regions. A large, consistent body of scientific evidence demonstrates that diets rich
in plant foods provide protection against degenerative diseases; however, despite
the consensus of the evidence about the health effect of plant foods, it is unclear
which components of plant-based foods are protective and what their mechanism of action
is. One of the hypotheses postulated to explain the protective effect of plant food,
the antioxidant hypothesis, is based on their high content of bioactive molecules.
Recent evidence suggests that it is the variegate composition of the plant food, an
optimal mixture of different antioxidants endowed with complementary mechanism of
action and different redox potential, which is at the basis of their effect on health.
The global antioxidant efficiency of complex matrixes can be assessed by measuring
their total antioxidant capacity (TAC) representing the result of variables such as
redox potentials of the compounds present in the matrix and their cumulative and synergistic
interaction. In the last years different databases for TAC of plant foods have been
developed. Results suggest that coffee might represent a potential contributor to
dietary antioxidant intake. In this contribution after describing the main contributors
to dietary TAC for different plant food group, we will discuss the potentiality of
coffee as a source of “ready to drink” reducing equivalents.
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© 2009 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
