Abstract

Objective: Epidemiological data illustrates that there is a strong relationship between dietary intake of natural bioactive compounds and their beneficial properties against various diseases, and this stimulates academic and industrial interest in using plant-derived compounds for health and making medicines. For this reason, recent health related studies in the literature have focused on a variety of many plant-derived bioactive compounds. Even though the bioactivities of such compounds have widely been investigated, there are few studies about oligomeric species and their activities.

Methods: In this review, extraction and isolation methods of the plant-derived oligomers and the use of such oligomers in health applications are summarised.

Results: In the literature, many studies state that oligomeric compounds have benefits to human health. To maximize these beneficial properties, various ways to use oligomeric compounds have been examined and summarised.

Conclusion: A better understanding of the specific activities of distinct components of plantderived oligomers is expected to open new avenues for drug discovery. This review gives an overview of oligomers with health beneficial properties and their possible applications in healthcare.

Keywords: Plant-derived oligomers, oligopeptides, oligosaccharides, probiotics, prebiotics, drugs delivery systems, health applications, functional foods.