Phenolic Compounds in Food and Cancer Prevention

Abstract

A general overview of the phenolic compounds in food and health is presented, with emphasis on the actual amounts eaten by humans and possible effects on cancer. Because of the widespread occurrence of phenolic compounds in our food, humans ingest a large amount of phenolic compounds. Most phenolic compounds in food are plant flavonoids, but others include synthetic antioxidants such as the food additives butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), chlorogenic acid in coffee, caffeic acid and ferulic acid in vegetables and fruits, α-tocopherol and related compounds in oils from vegetables and grains, the polyphenolic catechins found in tea and red wine, carnosol in rosemary leaves, and curcumin in turmeric, curry and mustard. Almost all of these polyphenolic compounds possess several common biological and chemical properties: (a) antioxidant activity, (b) the ability to scavenge active oxygen species, (c) the ability to scavenge electrophiles, (d) the ability to inhibit nitrosation, (e) the ability to chelate metals, (f) the potential for autoxidation, producing hydrogen peroxide in the presence of certain metals, and (g) the capability to modulate certain cellular enzyme activities. These compounds share some of these biological and chemical properties with vitamins C and E, and many have been found, or are likely to be able, to inhibit various steps of tumor development in experimental animals and probably in humans. The biological activities and functions of phenolic compounds are reviewed, especially as they relate to their mechanisms of anticarcinogenicity.