Besides providing essential nutrients for humans, food contains bioactive compounds that exert diverse biological activities such as anti-microbial, anti-cancerogenic, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. The cosmetic industry is interested in natural bioactive compounds for their use in nutricosmetic and cosmeceutical products. These products aimed to reduce skin aging, inflammation or provide photoprotection against UV radiation. As a result, nutricosmetics and cosmeceuticals are becoming innovative self-care products in the beauty market. These products contain phytochemicals as active compounds obtained from fruits, vegetables, legumes, medicinal herbs and plants with anti-aging potential. This review summarizes the information within the last 5 years related to bioactive compounds present in fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices commonly used for human consumption. Their antioxidant and biological potential for modulating molecular markers involved in the aging process, as well as their mechanism of action. Diverse natural foods and their byproducts could be used as a source of bioactive compounds for developing cosmeceutical and nutricosmetic products.
Keywords: Polyphenols; anthocyanins; antioxidants; cosmetics; phytochemicals; skin anti-aging.