Antioxidants in Fruits: Properties and Health Benefits (original) (raw)

2020, Antioxidants in Fruits: Properties and Health Benefits

The present chapter aims at providing a brief knowledge regarding plant-based secondary metabolites which act as natural antioxidants (NAs) (viz., flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, coumarins, lignans, tannins, lignins, alkaloids, sulfur compounds, and essential oils) their mode of action, methods and solvents used for their isolation, and various techniques (in vitro and in vivo) used for the assessment of their antioxidant potential. Apart from this, the chapter also provides a brief knowledge concerning oxidative stress (OS), free radicals (FRs), reactive nitrogen species (NOS), reactive oxygen species (ROS), biological roles of FRs/reactive species (RS), and various routes of their production. The oxidative stress is a situation, where the quantity of FRs/RS in the body of an organism surpasses the homeostatic equilibrium of indigenous antioxidants and FRs/RS. This oxidative stress condition is the cause of more than hundred types of ailment in living beings. The natural ant...