Nature has the answers: Discovering and validating natural bioactives for human health

Abstract

Nature has the answer to many of our questions about human health. Natural bioactives, especially when derived from sustainable plant and food sources, provide a plethora of molecular solutions to nutritionally actionable, chronic conditions. The spectrum of these conditions, such as metabolic, immune, and gastrointestinal disorders, has changed with prolonged human life span, which should be matched with an appropriately extended health span: “adding years to life and adding life to years”. Natural bioactives can be classified into micronutrients (i.e., vitamins, and minerals), phytonutrients, bioactive peptides, and pre-, pro-, post- and synbiotics. Bioactives act in concert and interact with the human host and its (gut) microbiome. Therefore, the future of translational science on natural bioactives is being built on a: (a) systems-level rather than reductionist approaches to understanding their interdependent, and at times additive functions, as well as their interactions with the human host and (gut) microbiome; and (b) the leverage of artificial intelligence for discovery and validation, thereby substantially reducing the time from idea and concept to finished solutions for consumers and patients. Rather than focusing on a particular class of bioactive food molecules, as often done in molecular food and nutrition articles, this review embraces a broad range of these bioactives and puts them into perspective regarding a more efficient and sustainable leverage of the biochemical richness of plants and foods for its diverse positive effects on human health.