Molecular Mechanism of Flavonoids Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Computational Tools

Abstract

With more than 4000 compounds identified up to now, flavonoids are present in human diet since they can be found in fruits, vegetables, seeds, grains, and beverages, such as wine and tea. Over the years, medicinal properties of these polyphenolic compounds have been noticed. Consequently, the search for the biological targets and for the description of flavonoids action mechanism has been growing. Fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking are techniques based on physical theories which have been helping researchers to describe the interaction between flavonoids and biological targets. In this way, this chapter comes not only as an attempt to gather some works dedicated to explain flavonoid molecular mechanisms of action but also to introduce a brief theory of steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular docking.