Research Article Influence of Moderate High-Pressure Homogenization on Quality of Bioactive Compounds of Functional Food Supplements Encarna Aguayo, Martha Patricia Tarazona-Díaz, Ascensión Martínez-Sánchez, and Antonio García-González Quality and Health Group, Institute of Plant Biotechnology (UPCT), Campus Muralla del Mar, Cartagena, 30202 Murcia, Spain Correspondence should be addressed to Encarna Aguayo; encarna.aguayo@upct.es Received 18 April 2017; Accepted 27 July 2017; Published 29 August 2017 Academic Editor: Jorge Moreno Copyright © 2017 Encarna Aguayo et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Current interest in health has led to an increase in demand for functional food supplements as well as in industry concern for maintaining the bioactive compounds of such foods via the application of new technologies. In this study, we evaluated the efect of moderate high-pressure homogenization (HPH) treatments (80 and 120MPa) versus thermal treatment (80 ∘ C, atmospheric pressure) on the functional bioactive compounds from four diferent functional supplements stored under accelerated conditions (40 ∘ C ± 2 ∘ C and 75% ± 5% relative humidity) for 6 months. HPH proved to be a better alternative than thermal treatment for functional supplements containing heat-sensitive compounds such as vitamin C, vitamin A, and unsaturated fatty acids (10- hydroxy-2-decenoic acid). Te proanthocyanidin, cynarin, chlorogenic, and iron contents, however, were not initially afected by HPH treatments. Te storage time caused important reductions in the majority of the compounds studied (mainly in vitamins C, B 12 , and A), although the lowest decrease was found in the HPH samples. Te food matrix had an important efect on the fnal functional composition and required the optimization of HPH treatments for each functional food supplement. HPH is a recommended alternative to thermal treatment for functional food supplements, in particular when they are rich in thermolabile bioactive compounds. 1. Introduction Te current trend in developed societies towards an un- healthy lifestyle results in factors such as stress, unbalanced diets and unhealthy eating habits, a lack of physical exercise, and many other factors that have a negative impact on our health. In addition, a number of diseases and physiological conditions (colon cancer, gastrointestinal conditions, and pregnancy) can produce iron defciency, which is the most common and widespread nutritional defciency worldwide that can lead to anemia [1]. Given this context, certain food supplements such as nutraceuticals can therefore play an important role in the improvement of health. A nutraceutical is a product that is isolated or purifed from foods which provides medical or health benefts, including the prevention and treatment of diseases [2]. Some bioactive compounds found in fruits and vegetables (vitamins, phenolic com- pounds, unsaturated fatty acids, etc.) have exhibited good health-related properties when used for treating physio- logical disorders or chronic diseases. For example, the con- sumption of cranberries has been recommended for the pre- vention of urinary tract infections, as the proanthocyani- dins found in the cranberries can inhibit the adherence of Escherichia coli to uroepithelial cells [3]. Phenolic acids, such as cynarin (1,3-O-dicafeoylquinic acid) from artichoke, and other cafeoylquinic derivatives, such as chlorogenic acid (5- O-cafeoylquinic acid), have hepatoprotective activity [4]. Other important compounds include the unsaturated fatty acids, such as 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), which is only available in royal jelly and has been shown to have pharmacological activities such as anticancer, anti-infam- matory, and antiallergic efects [5]. Hindawi Journal of Food Quality Volume 2017, Article ID 2856125, 11 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/2856125