Phytochemicals are chemicals derived from plants. They have important disease prevention properties. These chemicals are different from other plant substances in the sense that they are not required by human body for sustaining life, but they play an important role in helping humans and other living beings fight and protect against diseases. Many people are familiar with well-known phytochemicals such as lycopene found in tomatoes or isoflavones found in soy. In addition to those, there are thousands of phytochemicals produced by many varieties of plants that play an important role for plants themselves as well as other living organisms.
Phytochemicals provide many benefits to humans in number of areas. For example, their antioxidant properties help protect cells against oxidative damage and reduce the risk of cancer. Some types of phytochemicals simulate enzymes produced in humans that help regulate them in the body. Some other phytochemicals also have anti-bacterial properties which help fight against some diseases.
As you can see the phytochemicals have many beneficial characteristics for human body, which is why it is important to ensure you are getting enough of them. Eating more fruits and vegetables that contain those phytochemicals is an easy way to increase the intake of phytochemicals. In addition, several firms specialize in extraction, separation, purification and analytical technologies to get the reference substance, which in turn can be used in other products. These herbal standard products can be produced in various forms and functions that make it easy for people to consume. These purified reference substances can also be used research, development, regulatory and testing activities in fields as varies as biology, nutrition, fragrance chemicals, healthcare, pharmaceutical and agronomy.
Phytochemicals are one of the lesser known chemicals from plants that play an important role for human beings in many different fields. It requires specialized skills and R&D effort to find, extract and purify them so that they can be used to produce valuable products needed by human beings.
