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Review
. 2020 Jun 1:314:126192.
doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.126192. Epub 2020 Jan 11.

Bioactives and health benefits of nuts and dried fruits

Cesarettin Alasalvar  1 , Jordi-Salas Salvadó  2 , Emilio Ros  3
Affiliations
Review

Bioactives and health benefits of nuts and dried fruits

Cesarettin Alasalvar et al. Food Chem. .

Abstract

Nuts and dried fruits have been part of the human diet since prehistoric times. They are nutrient-rich foods and constitute an excellent means to deliver health-promoting bioactive compounds. As such, they serve as important healthful snack items, besides being part of many traditional and new recipes of gastronomy worldwide. Frequent consumption of nuts and/or dried fruits is highly recommended to obtain the full benefit of the nutrients, bioactives, and antioxidants that they contain, together with their desirable flavour. The macronutrients, micronutrients, and other health-promoting bioactive compounds contained in nuts and dried fruits may synergistically contribute to modulate the risk of cardiometabolic and other non-communicable diseases through various mechanisms. Experimental research, prospective studies, and human clinical trials have reported beneficial effects of nut consumption on various health outcomes. The benefits of dried fruits, however, have been less explored. This review summarizes recent findings on bioactive constituents, health claims, and health benefits of nuts and dried fruits and also discusses their great potential as healthy foods to benefit a number of diseases afflicting human beings.

Keywords: Bioactives; Dried fruits; Health benefits; Health claims; Nuts.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: CA declares serving as Academic Committee and World Forum for Nutrition Research and Dissemination Committee Members of International Nut and Dried Fruit Council. J.S.-S. declares serving on the board of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council and the Eroski Foundation, and receiving grant support from these entities through his institution. He also reports serving on the Executive Committee of the Instituto Danone, Spain. He has also received research funding (olive oil or nuts for the PREDIMED and PREDIMED-Plus studies) from the California Walnut Commission, Sacramento CA, USA; Patrimonio Comunal Olivarero, Spain; La Morella Nuts, Spain; and Borges S.A., Spain. He reports receiving consulting fees or travel expenses from Danone, the Instituto Danone - Spain and the Australian Nut Industry Council. ER declares having received grants, personals fees, and non-financial support from the California Walnut Commission (Folsom, CA, USA) and being a non-paid member of its Scientific Advisory Council.

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