Beneficial properties of ferulic acid from different vegetable sources

VALLEJO, C.V.; AREDES FERNANDEZ PEDRO A.; SAGUIR, FABIANA M.; RODRÍGUEZ VAQUERO, MARÍA JOSÉ

Ferulic Acid: Antioxidant Properties, Uses and Potential Health Benefits

Nova Science publishers

Año: 2014;

Oxidative DNA damage is an inevitable consequence of cellular metabolism and antioxidant system of body prevents diseases due to free radicals. However, imbalanced overproduction of free radicals and defense mechanism end into a range of disorders such as, Parkinson and Alzheimer diseases, aging and diabetes mellitus. On the other hand, angiotensin I-converting enzyme is a vital component in blood pressure regulation. The ACE activity causes a rise in blood pressure by increasing vascular resistance and fluid volume while ACE-inhibitor compounds exert an antihypertensive action. Phenolic compounds are a widespread family of phytochemicals with diverse biological functions in plants and ferulic acid is one of the ubiquitous compounds in nature. The identification of these compounds has increased due to their recognized physiological actions in humans. The study of vegetables with antioxidant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial and other biological activities beneficial to human health is a challenge that has been taken up during the past few years. In recent years, more attentions had been paid on phenolic compounds of citrus fruits, and publications suggested they might play an important role on the antioxidant capacity of citrus fruits. The phenolic acids exist largely in citrus fruits are hydroxycinnamics, such as caffeic, p-coumaric, ferulic and sinapic acids. In this chapter, we present updated findings that indicate that ferulic acid of different plant sources or derived products have beneficial properties, such as antioxidant, antihypertensive and antimicrobial activities, among others.