dr. WJC (Wouter) de Bruijn

Assistant professor phytochemicals
at the Laboratory of Food Chemistry
http://www.fch.wur.nl / http://www.linkedin.com/company/fchwur

Current trends in food and agriculture, such as the protein transition, are creating a growing interest in natural plant-based ingredients. As a result, phytochemicals (phyto meaning ‘plant’ in Ancient Greek) are becoming increasingly prevalent and important in food. The term ‘phytochemicals’ describes a bewildering number of small molecules from plants, which can be divided into many distinct classes based on their biosynthetic origin and structure. Phytochemicals include, but are not limited to, the following classes of molecules: (iso)flavonoids (e.g. flavan-3-ols and isoflavones), stilbenoids (e.g. resveratrol), lignans and lignanamides (e.g. hordatines), (hydroxy)cinnamic acids (e.g. coumaric acid, ferulic acid), phenolamides (e.g. avenanthramides), (neo)lignanamides (e.g. hordatines), triterpenoid glycosides (e.g. saponins), and carotenoids. Phenolic compounds, which make up several of these classes, are the most widespread and broadly studied. Phenolics and other phytochemicals can be reactive and are prone to structural changes during plant growth, and during processing and storage of plant-based food products or ingredients. These changes in structure also lead to changes in their properties, which can range from enhanced bio- or techno-functionality to (undesirable) colour formation.

Despite the fact that phytochemicals are present in much smaller quantities in foods than carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, they can strongly affect food properties. Understanding the effects of phytochemicals on the properties of food products and ingredients is essential due to the aforementioned trends in plant-based food. Our phytochemical research is focussed on three main areas: Advanced phytochemical analysis, oxidation of phenolic compounds, and interactions of phytochemicals with other food molecules.

For more information, please visit: Research theme Phytochemicals at the Laboratory of Food Chemistry.