The medicinal and aromatic plants as ingredients in functional beverage production

The functional beverages (FBs) are an important segment of functional food products due to health benefits they provide and their appealing sensory characteristics, suitability and affordability. FBs market offers many opportunities for new product development (nutraceuticals, colorants, plant-based medicines and products) with desirable and effective composition of nutrients and bioactive molecules (BAMs) aimed to deliver health benefits and improve human well-being. Recently, the use of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) in the production of FBs has become increasingly popular due to specific content of nutrients (amino and fatty acids) and BAMs (volatile and non-volatile) attributed to the biological effects and health benefits. BAMs are stored in leaves, flowers, fruits, seeds, barks and roots, and they mostly include phenolics (phenolic acids, flavonoids, tanins, anthocyanins, lignans and stilbenes), essential oils (EOs), terpenoids, alkaloids, phytosterols and saponins. The aromatic features of MAPs are mainly related to volatile compounds of EOs, but the presence of non-volatile compounds, such as phenolics, also contributes to the specific sensory properties. Phytochemical profiling of plant species containing specific and complex mixtures of BAMs, provides numerous opportunities for the development of new categories of FBs, but also opens new challenges in their isolation using conventional and advanced extraction techniques, as well as determination of potential biological effects. This review summarizes the categories of the most common FBs, BAMs from selected MAPs and their biological effects, extraction techniques suitable for production of plant extracts and EOs, product quality and prediction trends, and several directions towards future research on FBs development strategies.

Automated summary

Functional beverages, as an important category of functional food products, offer health benefits and appealing sensory characteristics. The use of medicinal and aromatic plants in the production of these beverages has gained popularity due to their specific nutrient and bioactive molecule content. However, the extraction of these compounds and their potential biological effects present challenges in research and product development strategies.