Plant Antioxidants in Human Health: Mechanisms and Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Antioxidants are specific compounds that significantly delay or prevent oxidation of oxidizable substrates when present at lower concentrations than the substrate. Antioxidants can be synthesized in vivo or taken as dietary antioxidants. Plants represent an important source of exogenous antioxidants. It is believed that two-thirds of the world's plant species have medicinal importance, and almost all of these have excellent antioxidant potential.

Oxidative stress has been identified as the root cause of the development and progression of several diseases. Supplementation of exogenous antioxidants or boosting endogenous antioxidant defenses of the body is a promising way of combating the undesirable effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced oxidative damage. Plants have an innate ability to biosynthesize a wide range of non-enzymatic antioxidants capable of attenuating ROS-induced oxidative damage.

Phytochemicals are known to act as free radicals’ scavengers and metal chelators. Although there are plenty of in vitro studies that demonstrate that phytochemicals are some of the most important antioxidant molecules in animal cells, the antioxidant efficacy of some phytochemicals in vivo is less documented.

Several phytochemicals have been found to possess antioxidant activity within in vitro assays. However, only a few of these have been shown to be therapeutically useful under in vivo conditions due to their interference with physiopharmacological processes such as absorption, distribution, metabolism, storage and excretion.

Phytochemical such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, anthocyanins or vitamins have been shown to possess a variety of health benefits and many studies suggest that they may be promising candidates in the treatment of various chronic diseases, including cancer.

This Special Issue of Plants entitled “Plant Antioxidants in Human Health: Mechanisms and Applications” welcomes original research and reviews with a particular focus on the extraction, purification and phytochemical characterization, antioxidant activities of plant bioactive compounds and their potential health benefits in vivo and in vitro.

Prof. Dr. Andreea Stănilă
Dr. Zorita Diaconeasa
Guest Editors

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