Antioxidants, its role in preventing free radicals and infectious diseases in human body

Abstract

Recent research on herbal field reports various ailments associated with free radicals. The risk of ailments because of oxidative stress increases due to undesirable way of life, exposure of natural and synthetic chemicals, cigarette smoking, medications, stress and so on. Cancer prevention agents are the substances which can search free radicals and help diminish the frequency of oxidative pressure induced harm. The main sources of antioxidants are vitamins, fruits, minerals, plants and vegetables. The functions of antioxidants are to neutralize the effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and prevent various diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The presence of antioxidants can be evaluated by various methods but the cheapest and easiest available methods are 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), total antioxidants capacity (TAC), total phenolic contents (TPC), reducing power (RP) and ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) methods. This review generally discusses the information related to the antioxidants and their role in changing the free radicals into neutral or less reactive species. It also discusses the role of antioxidant enrich sources in decreasing the risk of different human diseases.