Alimentazione e salute: ruolo dei polifenoli contenuti nei legumi nella prevenzione delle patologie dismetaboliche.

FOOD AND HEALTH. ROLE OF POLYPHENOLS AND GLYCEMIC INDEX IN THE PREVENTION OF DISMETABOLIC DISEASES. Nutrition plays a key role in human health. A protective effect is attributed to phytonutrients (polyphenols) and to dietary fibers. Among the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of dysmetabolic diseases, an important role is deserved to quality of carbohydrates, and to dietary Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL). The concept of glycemic index was introduced by Jenkins in 1981 and allows to classify different foods according to their post-prandial increase of glycemia. The research aimed to investigate the relationship between phytonutrients and GI in foods containing legumes and cereals. Therefore the levels of polyphenols and flavonoids of some legumes of the Regional Repertory (RR) of the Agricultural Biodiversity of the Marche Region were evaluated. Among legumes included in RR there are Fava di Fratte Rosa (PU), Cece Quercia di Appignano (MC) and Cicerchia di Serra dei Conti (AN). All the studied legumes are excellent sources of polyphenols and flavonoids. In addition, the nutritional analysis in products obtained with legume flours has shown that all the products retain interesting properties (higher level of proteins, fibers and polyphenols) compared to the reference product obtained with wheat flour. The nutritional properties of products obtained using legume flours reflect in lower values of GI and GL compared with the reference. Legumes are among the lowest glycemic index (GI) foods, they have been recommended in national diabetes mellitus (DM) guidelines. Our data contribute to increase the knowledge of the nutritional properties of legume flours and their added value as functional ingredients for the preparation of food products with healthy properties.