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In the last years a growing interest exists for potential health-protecting compounds present in our food. Formerly these compounds have been regarded as nonnutrients, components that hardly contribute to the nutritive value of the food product. Especially secondary plant metabolites are of interest. From epidemiological research it appeared that these compounds might play a protective role in aging diseases, such as coronary heart diseases and cancers. The protective mechanism is not clear, but a possible explanation is through their antioxidant activity (quenching of harmful radicals in the human body) or the stimulation of naturally present protection mechanisms (eg detoxification enzymes or the immune system). For that reason consumers are becoming more interested in food products with high levels of health-protecting compounds. Knowledge about the influence of various steps occurring in the production …