Phenolic compounds in plants and agri-industrial by-products: Antioxidant activity, occurrence, and potential uses

Phenolic compounds, ubiquitous in plants are an essential part of the human diet, and are of considerable interest due to their antioxidant properties. These compounds posses an aromatic ring bearing one or more hydroxyl groups and their structures may range from that of a simple phenolic molecule to that of a complex high-molecular weight polymer. Flavonoids, which bear the C6–C3–C6 structure, account for more than half of the over eight thousand different phenolic compounds. The antioxidant activity of phenolic compounds depends on the structure, in particular the number and positions of the hydroxyl groups and the nature of substitutions on the aromatic rings. Fruits, vegetables and beverages are the major sources of phenolic compounds in the human diet. The food and agricultural products processing industries generate substantial quantities of phenolics-rich by-products, which could be valuable natural sources of antioxidants. Some of these by-products have been the subject of investigations and have proven to be effective sources of phenolic antioxidants. When tested in edible oils, and in fish, meat and poultry products, phenolic-rich extracts have shown antioxidant activities comparable to that of synthetic antioxidants. Practical aspects of extraction and production of sufficient amounts of natural antioxidants from most of these sources remain to be elucidated.