Food Composition and Dedicated Databases: Key Tools for Human Health and Public Nutrition (2nd Edition)

Dear Colleagues,

To better understand nutrition, food chemistry, and medicine, it is necessary to study bioactive constituents, which requires detailed knowledge and coverage on the composition of compounds of nutritional and nutraceutical character; the need for the categorization of substances and for the implementation of specific and dedicated databases has emerged from both analytical data and collected data taken from the literature throughout harmonized and standardized approaches.

Food Composition Databases (FCDBs) aim to produce, collect, and present data in a standardized format to “speak a common language” that allows for the comparison of data from different national databases to foster exchange and collaboration between countries. At the same time, research is focused on the development of databases and models on metabolites in humans and novel dietary biomarkers.

The development of databases of nutrients, bioactive compounds, and metabolites are key tools for human health and public nutrition and represent resources for a wide range of applications in food, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, epidemiology, and medicinal areas.

The initial construction of a dataset of specific nutrients and bioactive compounds or class bioactive compounds and their inclusion in a specified and standardized database will be monitored; in addition, updating and expanding the comprehensive database is welcome. Additionally, a database dedicated to a peculiar and characteristic category of foods: traditional, certified, and recipe databases are welcome.

The design and construction of food databases foremost requires the exact identification of foods throughout an adequate food nomenclature and a precise description. There is a consensus on the importance of the nomenclature, description, and classification of foods and food groups. A coherent food description system is essential for comparing and/or exchanging data from different databases, and data of the same nature from different organizations and countries. Matching procedures for linking different databases are here encouraged.

Food composition and other dedicated databases as well as metabolomic databases and biomarker repositories represent a unique data resource for nutritionists, dietitians, and researchers for several applications, i.e., dietary assessment, exposure studies, food labelling, health claims processes, epidemiological studies, and clinical trials.

Applications and uses of databases from nutrition and medicine-related fields in other contexts are here explored. Current research trends are defined.

Dr. Alessandra Durazzo
Dr. Massimo Lucarini
Guest Editors

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