ABSTRACT
Phytochemicals are the natural plant-derived compounds that are produced for the plant’s own defense and protection against various environmental stresses such as bacteria, fungi, insects, pollution, weather change and various diseases. The phytochemicals can be classified based upon their chemical structures. The major classifications could be alkaloids, aromatic acids, phenolics, lactones, terpenoids, fatty acids and organosulphur compounds. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy is an important tool for the structural elucidation of flavonoids. Flavonoids, as a vast and diverse class of polyphenols, have an inevitable role in maintaining several major physiological functions in multicellular organisms. Various in vitro, in vivo and epidemiological evidence has established the anticancer activities of dietary flavonoids. Flavonoids have been among some of the most studied phytochemicals for drug discovery research due to their potential health beneficiary effects. Most of the modern anticancer drugs focus on DNA damage, as it leads to apoptosis and other forms of cell death.
