Local food and cardioprotection: the role of phytochemicals.

For decades, most of the attention of nutritionists and health professionals has focused on the impact of the major dietary components, such as the amounts and types of fats, proteins, carbohydrates and fibers, on human health. However, interest in the role of minor components is rapidly growing. Many constituents of plants are non-nutritional compounds that play key roles in plant physiology and interactions with the environment. Over the past few years, we performed human studies to ascertain the health effects of Mediterranean foods such as extra virgin olive oil and tomatoes. Recently, we became interested in endothelial dysfunction and its implications in aging. To study the effects of local food plants on vascular function, plants were collected in Southern Italy. Extracts were first tested for their antioxidant activity in a variety of assays. The effects on the production of vasorelaxant factors were then investigated in cell culture. Finally, aged rats were fed with a wild artichoke extract and their vasomotion responsiveness was evaluated. In synthesis, the data uniformly demonstrate that phytochemical components of the Mediterranean diet exert cardioprotective effects whose mechanisms are being progressively elucidated.