Studies Targeting α-Glucosidase Inhibition, Antiangiogenic Effects, and Lipid Modification Regulation: Background, Evaluation, and Challenges in the Development of Food Ingredients for Therapeutic Purposes

Since the discovery of alpha-glucosidase inhibitors and their inhibitory effects on the digestion of carbohydrates, promising results have been obtained as to the antidiabetic effects of this family of compounds. Antiangiogenic compounds have been identified that suppress tumor growth via a unique mechanism, confirming that such compounds can act as clinically applicable anticancer agents. Lipid peroxidation and lipid glycation have been suggested to play roles in food deterioration and in the pathophysiology of human diseases such as atherogenesis and diabetes, and antioxidative and antiglycative compounds can potentially be used in the prevention of food deterioration as well as to treat disease. On this basis, this review describes studies of alpha-glucosidase inhibition by mulberry 1-deoxynojirimycin, antiangiogenic effects of rice bran tocotrienol, and membrane lipid peroxidation/glycation and its inhibitors. These studies are ongoing in our work, with an emphasis on analytical techniques.