Can dietary flavonoids influence the development of coronary heart disease?

Abstract

The flavonoids constitute a large group of secondary plant metabolites being ubiquitous among higher plants. The biological activity of flavonoids was discovered during the 1930s, when it was found that several vegetables and fruits contained substances different from vitamin C and yet able to counteract the capillary fragility characteristic of scurvy. The "P vitamins" (as they were once called) were, however, not accepted as vitamins, and they are now regarded as members of the large and diffuse class of "non-nutrients". Today, extensive research is directed towards the elucidation of the importance and the potential therapeutic value of flavonoids in the treatment of, e.g., cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this paper, recent research on flavonoids is reviewed with emphasis on the possible correlation between dietary flavonoid content and reduced risk for cardiovascular disease.