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Polyphenols

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Cancer

  • 29 Accesses

Definition

Polyphenols are plant substances possessing more than one aromatic ring bearing one or more hydroxyl groups, including their functional derivatives, and may occur as unconjugated aglycones or as conjugated with sugars, organic acids, amino acids, or lipids. Examples of polyphenols are epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, resveratrol, quercetin, and rutin. Common dietary sources rich in polyphenols include tea, soybean, berries, chocolate, wine, apple and orange juices, black beans, tomato, sweet peppers, broccoli, and onion.

Characteristics

Polyphenols consist of a family of diverse compounds, which comprises chalcones (butein), dihydrochalcones (tephropurpurin), flavanones (naringenin), flavones (apigenin), dihydroflavonols (engeletin), flavonols (quercetin), flavanols (catechins), isoflavones(genistein), proanthocyanidins (propelargonidins), and anthocyanidins (delphinidin). Their main physiological function is as antioxidants. Therefore, a long-term consumption of a...

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References

  • Fresco P, Borges F, Diniz C et al (2006) New insights on the anticancer properties of dietary polyphenols. Med Res Rev 26:747–766

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See Also

  • (2012) Antioxidant Capacity. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 216. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_329

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  • (2012) Carcinogen. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 644. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_839

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  • (2012) Leukoplakia. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2028. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3332

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  • (2012) MAPK. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2167. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3532

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  • (2012) Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 2336. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3770

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  • (2012) Scavenge Free Radicals. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 3340. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_5166

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  • (2012) Xanthine Oxidase. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of Cancer, 3rd edn. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p 3963. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_6270

    Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

    Elvira de Mejia

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  1. Elvira de Mejia
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Correspondence to Elvira de Mejia .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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de Mejia, E. (2015). Polyphenols. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4677-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_4677-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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