Due to the advance in different fields of science, we are sure that food, apart from basic functions i.e. providing the organism with compounds vital for living, providing psychological satisfaction resulting from the consumption, plays also an important role in inhibiting the incidences of civilization diseases i.e. tumours and arteriosclerosis. That third important function is shaped by the nutritive components and numerous compounds which can be rated among the group of Natural Non-nutritive Substances (NSN). Food of plant origin contains many NSN compounds, including phenolic compounds – present both in vegetables and fruit; glucosinolanes – occurring in Cruciferae vegetables; inositol phosphates present in the seeds of grain legumes, oil plants and cereals; and also oligosaccharides occurring mainly in grain legume seeds. The mentioned compounds are characterized by numerous valuable physiological functions which are connected mostly with their antioxidative properties.