CHAPTER 13: Legumes and Inflammation

There has been a growing interest in determining the phytonutrient composition of legumes and their potential health benefits. The most studied legumes are common beans, soybeans, chickpeas, lentils and peas due to their phytochemical profile and content. The consumption of these legumes provides numerous health beneficial effects, which are mainly correlated to phytochemicals such as polyphenols, saponins, oligosaccharides, protein and peptides content. These bioactive compounds regulate inflammatory markers (nitric oxide, iNOS, PEG2, Cox-2 and TNF-α) which are closely related to a variety of chronic diseases. In this chapter, the mechanism of the inflammatory markers is reviewed to further understand the anti-inflammatory capacity of legume based diets, legumes extracts and their isolated phytochemicals with respect to a number of different diseases. Nowadays research focuses on controlled delivery systems of bioactive compounds to improve their physicochemical properties, bioavailability, site-specific efficacy, stability and pharmacokinetics in order enhance their potential health benefits.