Plants offer a variety of sources of substances that can function as nutraceuticals, such as phytotherapeutic raw materials, as functional products or as food products in a diet. These substances can affect the respiratory system by modulating the human immune system. The mechanism of indirect immunomodulation of the respiratory system also occurs through the action of substances in the digestive tract. The presented compounds were found in the form of foods, functional foods or nutraceuticals. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that plants and the compounds contained within them can be modulators in chronic infectious diseases and inflammations of the respiratory system in disease units such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Keywords: functional food; human immune system; nutrition; respiratory diseases.