br Flavonoids flavonoids isoflavones xanthones and anthocyan

Flavonoids (flavonoids, isoflavones, xanthones and anthocyanins) It is well known that plants have many kinds of flavonoids, and flavonoids play important roles in the growth and disease prevention of plants. Common flavonoids compounds include flavones, isoflavones, anthocyanins and xanthonoids. Flavonoids execute the clearance of free radicals by transforming them into phenolic radicals (inert) after supplying the hydrogen to lipid compounds radicals. Prostate cancer is the first malignant disease with serious influence on the health of men in Europe. Many investigations have demonstrated that soybean has high content of isoflavones and the Asians have higher consumption of soybean from diets than the Europeans and Americans. Moreover, the content of isoflavones in serum of Japanese was detected to be 10–100 times higher than that in Europeans. Therefore, the incidence of prostate cancer in Asia is much lower than that in Europe and USA, suggesting that isoflavone has a preventive effect on prostate cancer [28]. The flavonoids extracted from some plants have an excellent antioxidant function for the protection of vascular system and the treatment of arthritis and Alzheimer\'s disease. For example, quercetin can significantly reduce the level of oxidative stress index F2-isoprostane in athletes. In arthritis model mice treated through oral administration of Daphne genkwa flavonoids extract at the dose of 50mg/kg for 15 consecutive days, the arthritis score (ACS) was decreased while the expression of SOD and GSH-Px what is doxycycline hyclate was increased when compared with the control group [26,27,46]. Studies have found that catechin procyanidin in Ginkgo biloba extract can inhibit the aggregation of Aβ and disaggregate the formed fiber, suggesting their roles in the treatment of Alzheimer\'s diseases and other neurodegenerative diseases [47]. A study on 32 elderly people treated with fresh G. biloba extract revealed the improved microcirculation of skin and liver, accelerated scavenging of free radicals and the improvement of arteriosclerosis. 30 days after 270mg G. biloba extract or placebo treatment, the red cell perfusion nodes and blood flow of small veins, and red blood cell volume revealed an obvious higher in the G. biloba extract treatment group when compared with the control group. Moreover, a significantly higher level of GSH as a radical scavenger in the G. biloba extract treatment group than that of the control group was also observed. Therefore, G. biloba has a beneficial effect on the health of the elderly population [29]. Isoflavones are flavonoids in soybean with anti-cancer function. Isoflavones can prevent ovarian, cervical and breast cancers. A previous pathological study revealed that the intake of soybean foods at the amount of 75.3±53.6g/d in patients with ovarian cancer was significantly lower than that from the control group (110.7+88.8g/d). Logistic regression analysis indicated that the consumption of soybean diets can significantly reduce the incidence of ovarian cancer [30,31]. Anthocyanins are natural water-soluble pigments widely existing in plants, and with strong antioxidant activity. Foods with dark color such as purple sweet potato, black rice, blueberry, grape, mulberry and so on have plentiful anthocyanins. Based on the current studies, anthocyanins have an important function in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer [32,48]. The rats subjected to the long-term (7 weeks) or short-term (2 weeks) administration of the diet rich in blueberry fruits revealed the significantly reduced damage from light-induced retinal injury, indicating the protective role of anthocyanins in neural cells [33]. Blackcurrant richs in anthocyanins is a common drug for the treatment of Asian and European diseases. A new finding has demonstrated that cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside as one of the bioactive components in blackcurrant extract can significantly inhibit the growth of liver cancer HepG2 cells [34].