Content, qualitative composition and biological activity of disease-preventive flavonoids and related polyphenolics in selected Chinese vegetables

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Peter Proksch
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Pflanzenbau, Pflanzenernährung, Agrartechnik
• Förderung: Förderung von 2003 bis 2011
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 5410651

Flavonoids (including flavones, flavonols, catechins, isoflavones, coumestans and anthocyanins) as well as biogenetically related phenylpropanoids of plant origin (e.g. stilbenes or lignans) represent important non-nutritive secondary ingredients of vegetables and fruits. Based on epidemiological studies as well as on numerous in vitro and in vivo experiments flavonoids and other polyphenolic plant constituents are suggested to play a major role in the prevention of important chronic diseases such as cancer that affect large numbers of the human population. This protective action of dietary flavonoids and of related compounds is believed to be mainly due to their anti-oxidative activity involving scavenging of cytotoxic oxygen radicals and to inhibition of specific cancer related targets such as protein kinases and matrix metalloproteinases. For the so called "phytoestrogens" (isoflavones, coumestans and lignans) another mode of action has been demonstrated: they bind to estrogen receptors and are able to inhibit estrogen-dependent tumor growth. Due to the described importance of flavonoids in the prevention of chronic diseases like cancer a detailed analysis of important modern and traditional Chinese vegetables with regard to their major phenolic constituents will be carried out using modern analytical methods. In addition to the elucidation of individual profiles of plant polyphenolics present in Chinese vegetables special attention will be given to the natural qualitative and quantitative variability of polyphenolic compounds as influenced by environmental factors as well as to their anti-proliferative effects against human cancer cells.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen