Baking & Snack - November 2006 - 85

November 2006

Beyond Product Protection
From natural products to high technology,
antioxidants remain in the forefront
of nutrition-enhancing ingredients.

BY REBECA LÓPEZ-GARCÍA, PH.D.

he food industry has typically considered antioxidants mainly for
their preservative properties. This
is an extremely important application,
because without proper stability, the
addition of other more healthful ingredients is useless. However, antioxidant
ingredients can now be used to address
consumers' demand for great taste with
added nutrition. Antioxidants are high
on the list of products that have experienced increased market demand due
to their relationship with health and
disease. Taking real advantage of the
health benefits associated with these
compounds can be challenging for
several reasons including formulation
issues, cost and consumer confusion
regarding their activity.

OXIDATION CHEMISTRY 101
Oxidation occurs when free radicals are
produced as part of cellular metabolism. A free radical is a highly reactive
type of molecule that can propagate
oxidation reactions through the generation of more free radicals. The reaction
is only stopped when two radicals are
neutralized by an antioxidant (small
molecules that can receive or donate an
electron to stabilize a free radical forming a stable by-product and preventing
further damage).
In biological systems, free radicals
are produced continuously as part of
regular metabolism. However, when
this process exceeds the body's natural
ability to stop this chain reaction and
protect itself, oxidation takes over and

damages cells and tissues. Oxidative
damage has been linked to the aging
process and the occurrence of diverse
chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and
diabetes among others. The most important free radicals in many disease
states are oxygen derivatives that are
produced by several mechanisms involving both endogenous and environmental factors (see "Free Radical
Production" below).
Antioxidants prevent free-radicalinduced tissue damage by preventing

Endogenous sources:
*Cellular damage
*Enzyme reactions
*Respiratory burst
*Auto-oxidation

the formation of radicals, scavenging
them or promoting their decomposition. Because radicals have the capacity to react in an indiscriminate manner
leading to the damage of almost any
cellular component, an extensive range
of antioxidant defenses is needed to
protect cellular components from freeradical-induced damage.
Different studies strongly support
that the inclusion of antioxidant compounds in the daily diet can help prevent diverse chronic diseases and, in
general, slow the aging process. Bakers
Environmental sources
*Cigarette smoke
*Environmental pollutants
*UV light
*Ionizing radiation
*Toxic compounds from drugs
and diet (xenobiotics)

FREE RADICAL PRODUCTION

Chain-breaking antioxidants
(Directly scavenge free radicals)
*Lipid phase: tocopherols,
ubiquinol, carotenoids,
flavonoids
*Aqueous phase: Ascorbate,
urate, gluthatione and
other thiols

Tissue damage
*Lipid peroxidation
*Genetic damage
*Protein damage
Enzyme antioxidants
(Produced by the body)
*Superoxide dismutase
*Catalase
*Glutathione

Dietary compounds
for enzyme function
*Manganese
*Selenium

November 2006 / BAKING & SNACK / 89

Baking & Snack - November 2006

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