Abstract
Flavonoids are the most ubiquitous and structurally evolved class of plant phenolic compounds. Based on a few principal structures (see Fig. 1), multitudinous hydroxylation, methoxylation, and glycosylation patterns exist. At present more than 4000 individual substances are known [31]. Plants contain both glycosylated compounds and aglycones [74]. As can be expected from the structural diversity, a variety of biological functions have been attributed to flavonoids: photo reception, light screening, visual attraction, feeding repellance, phytoalexin function, etc. [30]. Antioxidative properties were first suggested when it was discovered that the flavonoid content of food contributes to an extended shelf life and retards spoilage [43]. Owing to the rapid degradation of flavonoids in the digestive tract [28, 43], pharmacological effects in mammals are limited [32, 50]. Only few flavonoid derivatives have so far been shown to be of therapeutic value: rutoside [68], cyanidanol (catechin) [20], silybin [69, 70]; all act predominantly as detoxicants after liver injury.
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Bors, W., Heller, W., Michel, C., Saran, M. (1992). Structural Principles of Flavonoid Antioxidants. In: Csomós, G., Fehér, J. (eds) Free Radicals and the Liver. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76874-3_8
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