Natural antioxidants–properties and possible applications

Abstract

There is an interest in the use of compounds able to prevent organism damages. Antioxidants are such compounds that can protect from cells damages caused by free radicals and may be used in the treatment and prevention on many diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, brain stroke, skin diseases as well as they delay the aging process. There are many sources of antioxidants. They can be synthetic or natural and especially those derived from natural sources, demand special attention. Phenolic compounds are substances which mainly possess such activity, but also vitamins and minerals. There are a lot of antioxidants, but in that review, the chosen compounds with outstanding antioxidant activity, mainly used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics were described. The review shows the activity of phenolic acids (ferulic acid and caffeic acid) and polyphenols (ellagic acid, curcumin, genistein, hydroxytyrosol, resveratrol) and vitamins (C and E).