Summary
This narrative review provides an overview of the principal anti-nutritional factors present in plant-based foods — including phytates, tannins, oxalates, lectins, and protease inhibitors — and their effects on mineral and protein bioavailability and human health. The authors survey a range of reduction strategies, including traditional and industrial processing techniques such as soaking, fermentation, germination, and thermal treatment, assessing their relative efficacy. The paper serves as a reference resource for researchers and food technologists seeking to improve the nutritional quality of plant-derived food products.
UK applicability
Although the review is international in scope, its findings are relevant to UK food technology, public nutrition policy, and the formulation of plant-based and legume-rich diets increasingly promoted within UK dietary guidelines and sustainability agendas.
Key measures
Types and concentrations of anti-nutritional factors (e.g. phytates, tannins, oxalates, lectins, trypsin inhibitors); nutrient bioavailability; reduction efficacy of processing methods (e.g. soaking, fermentation, germination, heat treatment)
Outcomes reported
The review examines the types, mechanisms, and health implications of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) found in plant-based foods, and evaluates processing and other strategies to reduce their levels and improve nutrient bioavailability.
Topic tags
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