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Augustin Scalbert and Gary Williamson
answer a
few questions about this month's fast breaking paper in the field of
Agricultural Sciences.
From
•>>April 2003
Field: Agricultural Sciences
Article Title: "Dietary intake and bioavailability of polyphenols"
Authors: Scalbert,
A;Williamson, G
Journal: J NUTR
Volume: 130
Page: 2073S-2085S
Year: AUG 2000
* INRA, Lab Maladies Metab & Micronutr, F-63122 St Genes
Champanelle, France.
* INRA, Lab Maladies Metab & Micronutr, F-63122 St Genes
Champanelle, France.
* Food Res Inst, Norwich NR4 7UA, Norfolk, England.
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 Why
do you think your paper is highly cited?
Our paper provides a critical summary on a fast-growing field
of research, and brings together a diversity of papers into a
cohesive statement on the state of the art of polyphenol and
flavonoid metabolism. Many people today are concerned by the
effects of diet on health and are curious to unravel the health
effects of the different micronutrients contained in food. Some
food micronutrients like vitamins or some minerals are
essential, whereas others, like antioxidants, although not
essential in the short term, may limit the risk of various
degenerative diseases such as cancers or cardiovascular
diseases. Dietary antioxidants have raised considerable interest
from both laypeople and researchers as they may limit oxidative
stress in the body and the risk of associated diseases. Ten
years ago, polyphenols were hardly mentioned in general books
and reviews on antioxidants; most research was focused on
vitamin C, vitamin E, and carotenoids. Our review paper
describes in simple terms the main dietary polyphenols and their
fate in our body and stresses that they are by far the most
abundant antioxidants in our diet. This was not widely realized
until recently .
Does
it describe a new discovery or a new methodology that's useful to
others?
Our paper does not describe a new discovery but certainly
raises the attention of the scientific community to polyphenols
as major dietary antioxidants. Polyphenols are commonly viewed
as a very complex family of molecules (several hundreds of
compounds present in food). This largely explains why the
researchers have become interested by polyphenols only recently.
There is a wide gap between on one hand the wealth of data on
various biological effects of polyphenols measured in vitro
or in animals, and on the other hand the paucity of convincing
evidence of their effects on human health. Knowledge on intake
and bioavailability contributes to fill this gap. Health effects
of polyphenols will also be the topic of an International
Conference (Vichy, France, November 18-21, 2003; www.evicevents.com
) which one of us organizes.
Could
you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?
Our paper gives a clear description of dietary
polyphenols and their classification. It shows that despite
their complexity, much progress has been made these recent years
to estimate their intake and determine their fate in our bodies.
It also shows that major differences in both intake and
bioavailability are observed according to polyphenol classes and
that the most abundant polyphenols in the diet are not
necessarily those which have been most studied until recently.
It emphasizes the limits in our knowledge and proposes new
directions of research.
How
did you become involved in this research?
Augustin Scalbert : I started research as a phytochemist,
working on the chemistry of polyphenols in wood and bark. After
a few years, I realized that the golden age of phytochemistry
had passed and that the most important chemical structures of
polyphenols were now well known whereas most of the research on
their biological effects remained to be done. My conviction was
also that a good knowledge of their chemistry would help to
unravel some of these effects. I first started to study the
nutritional and health effects of food polyphenols through
different collaborations with nutritionists and finally decided
to move to INRA Clermont-Ferrand to work with well-qualified
nutritionists.
Gary Williamson: I started research as a biochemist,
working on enzymology and about 15 years ago started working on
enzymic hydrolysis of phenolic compounds from plant raw materials.
I developed an interest in the activity of these compounds in
human nutrition, and began research about 8 years ago on human
metabolism of polyphenols with an emphasis on the enzymes
involved. I worked for 16 years at the Institute of Food Research
in Norwich, UK, and have recently moved to the Nestlé Research
Center in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Augustin Scalbert
Director de Recherché
Laboratoire des Maladies Metaboliques et Micronutriments
INRA Centre de Recherché de Clermont-Ferrand/Theix
Saint-Genes-Champanelle, France
Gary Williamson
Head of the Metabolic and Genetic Regulation Group, Nutrition
Department
Nestlé Research Center
Lausanne, Switzerland
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ESI Special Topics,
April 2003
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/fbp/2003/april03-Scalbert_Williamson.html
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