ABSTRACT
Plants produce a diverse range of secondary metabolites that function in the cellular communication within and among plants, in reproduction and as mediators of responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Such compounds include polyphenols, most notably the avonoids. In human cell cultures and in animal models, these compounds have been shown to exert wide range of biological effects, suggesting they may have cancer preventing properties, including free radical scavenging, reducing DNA damage, inducing detoxifying enzymes, and modulating cell signaling pathways involved in apoptosis and cell cycle control (Naczk and Shahidi 2006; Watson and Preedy 2010). In this chapter, we review the evidence for effects of avonoids on cancer risk in humans with a focus on prevention of DNA damage.
