What are flavonoids?
Flavonoids - also named "bio-flavonoids", are a general name for a large collection of plant compounds, organic substances. (Up till now, descriptions of over four thousand different types are available!) The Latin word "flavus", means "yellow". In the past, textiles such as cotton and wool were dyed yellow with the aid of plant substances of the flavonic category. Take a look at fruits and vegetables and see their beautiful, bright colours: yellow, aubergine, red, dark purple. Flavonoids have great influence on the colour of these products. Formerly, flavonoids were also known as "vitamin P" (where "P" stands for "permeability"); a vitamin which makes you feel good. Flavonoids are to be found in berries, grapes, but also in flowers. They have important influence on the colour of wine. 100 Grams of grapes contain 100-135 milligrams of flavonoids!
A lot of investigation has been done and is still being done on flavonoids and their influences and effects. It is believed that certain types of flavonoids have qualities to fight cancer, by their high contents of anti-oxidants. Furthermore, flavonoids are believed to diminish or prevent the transfer of "superfluous calories" into fat.
Asian people have an intake of flavonoids through nourishment which is many times higher that of people in the Western world. The fact that a high percentage of these substances is destroyed during certain processes, such as cooking, frying, preservation, etc.
Guidline Daily Amount
Unfortunately, up till now, no GDA (Guideline Daily Amount) has been determined for flavonoids, but with some attention and awareness we will get well on the path to the right (read: healthy) direction. Take a look elsewhere on the site: nutritional guidelines.
Chemical structure
When we look to the chemical structure of flavonoids, we can classify them into the following categories: Anthocyanidins (e.g. in blue berries, red wine and cranberry juice), Carotenes (e.g. in carrots, oranges and tomatoes), Catechins (e.g. in fruits, tea and red wine), Flavones, Flavonols and Flavanones (e.g. in red wine, broccoli, apples, tea and onions), Glucosinolates (e.g. in broccoli, cabbage and sprouts), Isoflavones (e.g. in pulses and soya), Lavones (in herbs) and Organosulfides (in garlic). A flavonoid molecule has the following standard structure:
The groups described above are variations on these structures (other functional groups, other location of the double bonds etc.
