Flavonoids are phytonutrients and an important source of natural phenolic antioxidants. They are very useful for the health of the human body due to their antioxidant action which counteracts free radicals, responsible for the aging processes and many diseases.

They play an important role in the color of natural products. they are responsible for the colors of the leaves and flowers.

Flavonoids are secondary metabolites that accumulate in vascular plants and, to a lesser extent, in mosses. they promote seed and pollen dispersion, contributing to the formation of fruit and flower color (1).

In the flavonoid family we also find anthocyanins, water-soluble pigments also carrying out an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action recognizable by the blue color.

They are found in (2):

Fruits

• cranberry
• blueberries
• chokeberry

•  broad bean pod (189.54 mg/100 g)
•  black olive (159.83 mg/100 g)
•  red onion (131.51 mg/100 g)
•  spinach (119.27 mg/100 g)
•  shallot (112.22 mg/100 g)

Cereals

• barley  (35.2 mg/100 g)
• buckwheat (37.04 mg/100 g)
• common wheat (77.4 mg/100 g)

Cocoa (511.63 mg/100 g)

Oils

• extra virgin olive oil (1.53 mg/100 g)
• virgin olive oil (0.23 mg/100 g)
• refined olive oil (0.15 mg/100 g )

seeds, nuts etc.

They have beneficial action against:

• allergies
• virus
• infections
• osteoporosis
• tumors
• inflammations

Flavonoids, perhaps the single most important group of phenolic compounds in food, comprise a group of over 4000 aromatic vegetable compounds. in this group there are:

• anthocyanins (cyanidin, pelargonidine, petunidin)
• flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol)
• flavones (luteolin, apigenin)
• flavanonols(myricetin, naringin, esperetin, naringenin)
• flavan-3-ols (catechin, epicatechin, gallocatechin)
• isoflavonoids (genistein, daidzein)

The optimal daily intake is estimated from 500 mg to 1 gram (2).

Flavonoids studies

References_________________________________________________________

(1) Cunmin Qu, Fuyou Fu, Kun Lu, Kai Zhang, Rui Wang, Xinfu Xu, Min Wang, Junxing Lu, Huafang Wan, Tang Zhanglin, Jiana Li  Differential accumulation of phenolic compounds and expression of related genes in black- and yellow-seeded Brassica napus  J Exp Bot. 2013 Jul; 64(10): 2885–2898. Published online 2013 May 22. doi: 10.1093/jxb/ert148

(2) Rodríguez-García C, Sánchez-Quesada C, J Gaforio J. Dietary Flavonoids as Cancer Chemopreventive Agents: An Updated Review of Human Studies. Antioxidants (Basel). 2019 May 18;8(5):137. doi: 10.3390/antiox8050137.

(3) Lila MA. Anthocyanins and Human Health: An In Vitro Investigative Approach. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2004;2004(5):306-313. doi: 10.1155/S111072430440401X.