Are We in the Polyphenols Era?

Sir, Polyphenols constitute a group comprising about 8000 different molecules, among which flavonoids are the most studied family. Polyphenols are potent antioxidants abundant in medicinal plants, fruits, vegetables and particularly in derived food products such as chocolate, tea and wine. This more ‘natural’ approach to antioxidant supplementation seems to be promising, since the antioxidant capacity of these compounds is not simply related to direct scavenging of reactive oxidant species (ROS), but also to inhibition of enzymatic sources of oxidative stress and augmentation of endogenous nonenzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant systems. Benefits from polyphenol-rich medicinal plants, foods and beverages are likely to arise from multiple pathways, and the antioxidant property appears to be only one of these.[1,2]. Read more...