ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION In the last decades pediatricians learned more about the balance of oxidants and antioxidants in biological systems. As a consequence, the importance of dietary micronutrients with antioxidant function was acknowledged. Today a number of vitamins, such as vitamins A, C, or E, are supplemented regularly in fortified food for infants to prevent vitamin deficiency-related diseases. However, several other biologically active nutrients can be isolated from dietary plants and plants used in herbal medicine (1-3). These micronutrients include carotenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols. Some of them serve as antioxidants; however, the spectrum of their biological functions is broader then previously thought.
