Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Jul-Dec;10(20):84-89.
doi: 10.4103/0973-7847.194044.

Overviews of Biological Importance of Quercetin: A Bioactive Flavonoid

Alexander Victor Anand David  1 , Radhakrishnan Arulmoli  1 , Subramani Parasuraman  2
Affiliations
Review

Overviews of Biological Importance of Quercetin: A Bioactive Flavonoid

Alexander Victor Anand David et al. Pharmacogn Rev. 2016 Jul-Dec.

Abstract

Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules such as free radicals. Flavonoids are phenolic substances widely found in fruits and vegetables. The previous studies showed that the ingestion of flavonoids reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and certain types of cancer. These effects are due to the physiological activity of flavonoids in the reduction of oxidative stress, inhibiting low-density lipoproteins oxidation and platelet aggregation, and acting as vasodilators in blood vessels. Free radicals are constantly generated resulting in extensive damage to tissues leading to various disease conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer's, renal diseases, cardiac abnormalities, etc., Medicinal plants with antioxidant properties play a vital functions in exhibiting beneficial effects and employed as an alternative source of medicine to mitigate the disease associated with oxidative stress. Flavonoids have existed over one billion years and possess wide spectrum of biological activities that might be able to influence processes which are dysregulated in a disease. Quercetin, a plant pigment is a potent antioxidant flavonoid and more specifically a flavonol, found mostly in onions, grapes, berries, cherries, broccoli, and citrus fruits. It is a versatile antioxidant known to possess protective abilities against tissue injury induced by various drug toxicities.

Keywords: Antioxidant; bioflavonoid; free radical; quercetin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of quercetin
None
Alexander Victor Anand David
None
Radhakrishnan Arulmoli
None
Subramani Parasuraman
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gupta M, Mazumder UK, Gomathi P, Selvan VT. Antiinflammatory evaluation of leaves of Plumeria acuminata. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2006;6:36. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nigam V, Sodhi JS. Some medicinal plants with antioxidant activity – A review. Int J Pharm Biol Sci. 2014;4:173–8.
    1. Gupta VK, Sharma SK. Plants as natural antioxidants. Nat Prod Radiance. 2006;5:326–34.
    1. Salvamani S, Gunasekaran B, Shaharuddin NA, Ahmad SA, Shukor MY. Antiartherosclerotic effects of plant flavonoids. Biomed Res Int 2014. 2014:480258. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sultana B, Anwar F. Flavonols (Kaempeferol, quercetin, myricetin) contents of selected fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. Food Chem. 2008;108:879–84. - PubMed