Health and safety: Difference between revisions

Oxidative stress is involved in the pathology of several human diseases, such as atherosclerosis, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, ageing, and cancer [1]. Dietary antioxidants can counteract the negative effects of oxidative stress. Polyphenols are the most abundant dietary antioxidants, due to their presence in all fruits and vegetables [1]. Polyphenol intake can be several hundreds of milligrams per day, up to 1 g/day, depending on dietary habits [2] and, in particular, in wine, coffee, beer, chocolate, and tea consumption; and it largely exceeds that of other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and β-carotene [3]. Among polyphenols, phenolic acids account for about one-third of the total intake, while flavonoids account for the remaining two-thirds of the total intake [2]. Epidemiological studies have suggested associations between long-term consumption of polyphenols-rich foods and prevention of oxidative stress-related diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, inflammation, and degenerative diseases [1,4–6].<ref>Nardini M, Foddai MS. [https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/25/11/2466 Phenolics Profile and Antioxidant Activity of Special Beers.] ''Molecules.'' 2020;25(11):2466.</ref> In addition to the most familiar products, special beers produced with the addition of fruits, spices, or natural food during the fermentation process, have been becoming very popular throughout the world, responding to requests for new gustatory, olfactory, and visual stimuli from consumers. During re-fermentation and maturation of special beers, flavors and bioactive compounds, such as carotenoids and polyphenols, are extracted from fruits, spices, and natural food added to beer. Recently, the addition of fruits during the fermentation process has been reported to significantly increase the content of bioactive compounds and the antioxidant activity of beer [13]. Despite many studies describing the raw materials and the effects of technological processes, little is known about the healthy compounds and nutritional quality of commercially available beers [14–16].