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ScienceDirect
Food Science and Human Wellness 3 (2014) 110–116

Research progress of natural antioxidants in foods for the

treatment of diseases
Sen Li, Guowei Chen, Chao Zhang, Man Wu, Shuyan Wu, Qing Liu ∗
School of Medical Instrument and Food Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
Received 8 November 2014; accepted 26 November 2014

Abstract
A large amount of free radicals can be generated in human body during metabolic process. These free radicals can result in oxidative stress and
homeostasis imbalance, even some chronic diseases and cancers if they are not promptly removed. Currently, many studies devote to exploring
and utilizing natural antioxidants to remove excessive free radicals in human body, thus realizing the prevention and treatment of diseases. In the
present study, the major species of natural antioxidants in foods that are benefit for the prevention and treatments of diseases have been summarized.
Meanwhile, the research progress and future development have also been proposed. All of these studies, on the one hand, can provide a theoretical
basis for the development of drugs and healthy foods; on the other hand, can offer novel development ideas for food industry, especially for food
additive industry.
© 2014 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Free radical; Oxidative stress; Functional food; Natural antioxidant

During metabolic process and contact process with exter- foods is the first choice because natural antioxidants not only
nal environment, a large amount of free radicals are produced play an important role in the prevention and adjunctive treatment
in human body and attack biological macromolecules such as of diseases but also can avoid the adverse reactions to human
proteins, fatty acids and nucleic acids, correspondingly causing health. In this article, common natural antioxidants such as vita-
oxidative damage on cells or tissues or even resulting in gene mins (vitamin A, C and E), carotenoids (␤-carotene, lycopene
mutation. Free radicals at high concentration level in human and astaxanthin), polyphenols (tea polyphenols and red wine
body can cause oxidative stress, thus destroying internal redox polyphenols), and flavonoids (flavonoids, isoflavone, xanthones
balance and causing a variety of chronic diseases, even prema- and anthocyanins) in foods are summarized. Meanwhile, the
ture senility [1]. Current researches have confirmed that many antioxidant mechanisms and research progress of these bioactive
diseases including cancers, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, cataract, components from Chinese herbs in the prevention and treat-
cardiovascular diseases, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s dis- ment of diseases are reviewed, as shown in Table 1, which will
ease and arthritis, are highly correlated with free radicals and provide a novel strategy for the development of pharmaceutical,
cellular redox imbalance [2]. Therefore, free radicals have healthcare and food industries.
become the culprit for influencing human health. In order to
scavenge superfluous free radicals and maintain the balance of
homeostasis in human body as well as accomplish the preven- 1. Vitamins (vitamins C and E)
tion and treatment of diseases, the consumption of antioxidants is
necessary. However, synthetic antioxidants have toxic effects to Vitamins are essential trace substances to maintain normal
some extents. Therefore, the uptake of natural antioxidants from physiological function of human body. The majority of vita-
mins cannot be synthesized by human body and only can be
uptaken from foods. Vitamin C and vitamin E are the most
well known antioxidants and extensively studied. Vitamin
∗ Corresponding author at: School of Medical Instrument and Food Engi-
C (ascorbic acid) is mainly found in fresh vegetables and
neering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093,
China. Tel.: +86 21 65710368.
fruits. The antioxidant effect of vitamin C is reflected by its
E-mail address: [email protected] (Q. Liu). reducing capacity, meaning that it can be directly and rapidly
Peer review under responsibility of Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. reacted with superoxide ion O2 − and singlet oxygen such
2213-4530 © 2014 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2014.11.002
 S. Li et al. / Food Science and Human Wellness 3 (2014) 110–116 111

Table 1
Natural antioxidants in foods and their roles in prevention and treatment of diseases.
Natural antioxidants Target diseases Foods rich in natural antioxidants

Vitamin C Cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cirrhosis Fresh fruits and vegetables
[3–5]
Vitamin E Lung, skin and prostate cancers [6,7] Nuts, green fruits and vegetables
Carotene Eye diseases caused by diabetes [8] Dark green or red and yellow fruits and
vegetables
Lycopene Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases [9,10] Tomatoes
Astaxanthin Aging, Alzheimer’s disease and Shrimp shell, oysters and salmons
inflammation [11–13]
Cocoa polyphenol Arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and Cocoa bean
alcoholic liver [14,15]
Green tea polyphenols Aging, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, Green tea
cardiovascular diseases, tumors and
inflammation [16–20]
Red wine polyphenols Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases [21,22] Red wine, grape seeds
Peach polyphenols Breast cancer [23] Peaches
Flavonoids Cardiovascular disease, arthritis, Plants, berries, honey
Alzheimer’s disease, stroke [24–27]
Isoflavonoids Prostate, ovarian, cervical and breast cancers Soybean
[28–31]
Anthocyanins Cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative Black rice, purple sweet potato, blueberry,
diseases, liver cancer [32–34] mulberry and other dark foods
Xanthones Inflammation, nerve injury [35,36] Mangosteen
Components from Chinese herbs Inflammation, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Chinese herbs
diabetes, cardiovascular disease [25,37–40]

as HOO− or OH− through dehydrogenation, and generate vegetable oil, kiwi fruits and green vegetables. Vitamin E is
dehydroascorbate. As hydrogen donor, it can also play an indi- found to have suppressive function to tumors. Sundaram has
rect antioxidant effect through the reduction of oxidized vitamin conducted high performance liquid chromatographic analysis
E and thiol. The chemical equation of reaction can be expressed for the samples from 5,000 women and reported that the con-
as: RO• + C6 H7 O6 − → RO− + C6 H7 O6 • → ROH + C6 H6 O6 . tent of vitamin E in women with breast cancer is significantly
As a water-soluble vitamin, vitamin C plays its antioxidant lower than that in the normal group (4.7 mg/L vs. 6.0 mg/L),
role through circulation flow in blood, body fluid and cells, suggesting that vitamin E can reduce the risk of breast cancer
thus protecting cells and tissues from free radicals [41]. In [6]. In the experiments using mouse lung cancer model induced
recent years, a large number of basic and clinical studies have by human lung cancer cell A549, the intraperitoneally injected
discovered that vitamin C has the protective role in a series vitamin E derivative, vitamin E succinate (VES) (150 mg/kg)
of diseases caused by oxidative stress, such as cardiovascu- can significantly inhibit the tumor growth of the mice [7].
lar disease, cancer and cirrhosis. Vitamin C can act as the
superoxide scavenger in primary hypertension to eliminate the
symptoms of patients [3]. By providing continuous medication
of vitamin C at the dosage of 500 mg to cardiovascular patients
for 10 weeks, the content of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
in blood is obviously reduced. LDL is the major component
causing oxidative damage to blood vessel, suggesting that
vitamin C can execute a treatment effect on cardiovascular
disease [4].
Vitamin E is a kind of fat-soluble vitamin, also known as
tocopherol including ␣-tocopherol, ␤-tocopherol, ␥-tocopherol
and ␦-tocopherol. Vitamin E has a very extensive function of pro-
tecting biological membrane in human body and nucleic acids
in cells from the attacking of free radicals [41]. Vitamin E can
directly remove O2 − , quench singlet oxygen and superoxide
dismutase (SOD) and establish an antioxidant system in human
body together with glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Through
the reaction with lipid oxygen radicals and lipid peroxyl free
radicals, vitamin E plays its antioxidant activity by providing the
protons to interrupt lipid peroxidation chain reaction (as shown Fig. 1. Principle of scavenging lipid oxygen free radicals by ␣-tocopherol. L
in Fig. 1). Vitamin E is rich in nuts such as almonds, walnuts, represents lipid oxygen free radicals.
112 S. Li et al. / Food Science and Human Wellness 3 (2014) 110–116

The latest studies have found that vitamin C and vitamin E 50 years old showed that there is a significantly negative corre-
have synergistic antioxidant effect. Betancor et al. [42] have lation between the levels of lycopene and lutein in serum and the
reported that the combinatorial application of vitamin C and risk of Alzheimer’s disease, which indicates that the increased
vitamin E can synergistically increase mRNA expression level dietary intake of foods rich in lycopene and lutein can reduce
of catalase (CAT), SOD and GSH-Px in Largemouth Bass juve- the risk of Alzheimer’s disease [10].
nile; in contrast, can reduce oxidative stress indicators such as Astaxanthin is reported to have anti-aging and anti-
TBARS. During the administration of vitamin C, or vitamin inflammatory activities by many studies. In the aging model mice
E or combinatorial administration of vitamin C and vitamin E induced by D-galactose, astaxanthin treatment can recover the
for the mice with liver fibrosis, the mitigation of liver fibrosis activities of GSH-Px and SOD, enhance GSH content and reduce
in mice was only observed in the combinatorial administration oxidative stress, improve pathological injury of hippocampus,
group with vitamin C and vitamin E, which indicates that vita- and increase the expression level of BNDF, thus achieving the
min C and vitamin E has the synergistic antioxidant effect for anti-aging role finally [11] in vitro studies have found that astax-
the treatment of diseases [43]. The redox status in human body is anthin treatment can also reduce the activity of ROS and the
a dynamic balance and excessive antioxidants are not necessary. expression of SP1 in PC12 cells induced by NR1MPP+ toxin.
The daily administration of 1,400 mg of vitamin C and 800 mg Similarly, the expression of SP1 and NR1 under oxidative stress
of vitamin E for 180 consecutive days was used for the treatment conditions can lead to the death of neuronal cells. Both results
of sickle cell anemia patients. The combinatorial application of suggest that astaxanthin may have protective roles in patients
both vitamins did not result in the symptom removal of sickle with Parkinson’s disease and delay the progress of Parkinson’s
cell anemia patients; on the other hand, an obvious increase disease [12]. Previous studies have also demonstrated that astax-
of hemolysis index was observed. However, the corresponding anthin not only has the function of oxidation resistance, but
mechanisms are still not clear [44]. also plays an important role in anti-inflammation. Santos et al.
[13] have treated rat macrophages with synthetic astaxanthin
2. Carotenoids (␤-carotene, lycopene and astaxanthin) and shrimp extract and found that astaxanthin can significantly
inhibit the generation of superoxide anion free radicals such
Carotenoid is a fat-soluble natural pigment in dark green or as O2 − and NO, and also can inhibit the secretion of pro-
red and yellow fruits and vegetables, and is a general definition inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-␣. All of these studies
of polyunsaturated hydrocarbons containing 40 carbon atoms. prove the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of astax-
Carotenoids contain many double bonds. They can quench sin- anthin.
glet oxygen in a physical way and can also react with oxygen Taken together, these studies illustrate that carotenoid antiox-
free radicals in three ways such as electron transfer, hydrogen idants play important roles in delaying the pathological process
atom transfer and radical coupling. The reaction equations are and mitigating the symptoms of many diseases by fighting
ROO• + Car → ROO− + Car•+ ; ROO• + Car → ROOH + Car• ; against free radicals and oxidative stress.
and ROO• + Car → (ROO)Car• , respectively. The most com-
mon carotenoids are ␤-carotene, ␥-carotene and lycopene in
plants, and astaxanthin in animals. 3. Polyphenols (tea polyphenols, red wine polyphenols
Previous studies have confirmed that carotenoid antioxidants and chocolate polyphenols)
have protective functions for diabetes, and neurodegenerative,
cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Oxidative stress and Polyphenols are natural organic compounds rich in fruits and
inflammation caused by free radicals are important factors vegetables, tea, red wine, honey and cocoa beans. Polyphenols
for diabetes with the complication of eye problems. Kowluru with multiple hydroxyl groups can effectively remove free radi-
et al. [8] have discovered that the combinatorial application of cals including O2 − and singlet oxygen to execute healthcare
carotenoid antioxidants can reduce the apoptosis of capillary functions. Similarly, according to the previous studies, cocoa
cells, decrease the damage of retinal mitochondria, down- polyphenols can significantly decrease the level of oxidative
regulate the expression of VEGF and inflammatory factors in stress in alcoholic fatty liver. The model mice with alcoholic
patients with diabetes, thus slowing down the process of eye fatty liver subjected to the treatment of cocoa polyphenols can
diseases in patients with diabetes. Studies show that lycopene reveal a significantly decreased level of PLOOH as the oxida-
can effectively protect the damage of neurons; administration of tive stress indicator of phospholipid hydroperoxide in animal
lycopene for rotenone-induced mouse model with Parkinson’s liver, suggesting that cocoa polyphenols have obvious protec-
disease could result in the significant increase in the number of tive effect on liver [14]. In addition, cocoa polyphenols also
dopaminergic neurons and reduced activity of oxidative stress have an inhibitory effect on the oxidation of low-density lipopro-
indicators such as MDA, SOD, GSH-Px and CAT, indicating tein, thus preventing arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease and
that the damage level of oxidative stress is mitigated due to the myocardial infarction. After the administration of model rabbits
application of lycopene [9]. Alzheimer’s disease is another neu- with high cholesterol with cocoa polyphenols for a month, the
rodegenerative disease that is closely correlated with oxidative content of LDL in blood was significantly reduced. The dam-
stress and can seriously affect the health and the life quality of aged area of arteriosclerosis in mice subjected to the treatment
patients. A research based on the nutrition and health survey and of cocoa polyphenols was significantly smaller than that in the
corresponding analysis of 6,958 elderly people with the age over control group. The contents of cholesterol and TBARS, and the
 S. Li et al. / Food Science and Human Wellness 3 (2014) 110–116 113

oxidative stress in tissues were significantly lower than those in with the consumption of fruits and vegetables less than 2 por-
the control group [15]. tions a day were divided into 3 groups and were provided with
Moreover, green tea polyphenols have obvious protective placebo (water), low concentration of black currant juice (rich
effect on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s dis- in polyphenols and vitamin C), and high concentration of black
ease. In the pathogenesis of AD, A␤ aggregation can lead currant juice for 6 successive weeks, respectively. The results
to the generation of a large amount of free radicals such as demonstrated that the content of oxidative stress indicator F2-
active oxygen species and active nitrogen species, correspond- isoprostane in black currant juice group was lower than that in
ingly resulting in oxidative stress and accelerating neuronal the placebo group, and that the health index of cardiovascular
death. (−)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) as the effective system for the regulation and relaxation capacity of blood flow
component in green tea polyphenols was reported to signifi- was significantly higher than that in the placebo group [24].
cantly reduce the A␤ deposition in transgenic mice with the The above studies fully illustrate the roles of polyphenol
over-expression of A␤ and increase the activity of ␣-secretase, antioxidants in the protection and adjuvant therapy of com-
suggesting that green tea polyphenols have an important role mon diseases. However, as the research development, more
in decreasing oxidative stress in the brain of AD patients [16]. polyphenols and their functions have been discovered, which
Another study on model mice with high-fat and high-sugar diet will provide a new choice for the treatment of the diseases and
for 4 weeks and green tea polyphenol solution instead of drinking the development of healthcare foods.
water revealed that green tea polyphenols can result in the signif-
icant reduction in the permeability of large artery and ROS levels 4. Flavonoids (flavonoids, isoflavones, xanthones and
as well as protein expression level of NAD(P)H oxidase sub- anthocyanins)
unit p22phox and p67phox in high-fat and high-sugar diet-induced
model mice. As NAD(P)H oxidase is an important source of ROS It is well known that plants have many kinds of flavonoids,
in vivo, the antioxidant effect of green tea polyphenols in vivo and flavonoids play important roles in the growth and dis-
may implement through inhibiting the expression of NAD(P)H ease prevention of plants. Common flavonoids compounds
oxidase [19]. Baba et al. [18] have also found that the contents of include flavones, isoflavones, anthocyanins and xanthonoids.
derivatives from ROS metabolites in patients with hepatocellu- Flavonoids execute the clearance of free radicals by trans-
lar carcinoma reveal a significant decrease when provided with forming them into phenolic radicals (inert) after supplying the
green tea tablets during the chemotherapy treatment. In addition, hydrogen to lipid compounds radicals. Prostate cancer is the
the free radical analysis system 4 (FRAS4) has shown that the first malignant disease with serious influence on the health of
potential of biological antioxidant is greatly improved. More- men in Europe. Many investigations have demonstrated that
over, green tea polyphenols also have an important function in soybean has high content of isoflavones and the Asians have
inhibiting tumor and inflammation [17,20,45]. higher consumption of soybean from diets than the Europeans
Grape seeds and red wine also contain a large amount and Americans. Moreover, the content of isoflavones in serum
of polyphenols. French scientists have confirmed that grape of Japanese was detected to be 10–100 times higher than that in
polyphenols can inhibit the oxidative stress and insulin resis- Europeans. Therefore, the incidence of prostate cancer in Asia
tance induced by fructose in type II diabetic patients at the first is much lower than that in Europe and USA, suggesting that
phase. In their experiments, 18 male and 20 female patients isoflavone has a preventive effect on prostate cancer [28].
were randomly divided into two groups and treated with grape The flavonoids extracted from some plants have an excel-
polyphenols and placebo. The results showed that the reduced lent antioxidant function for the protection of vascular system
negative effects such as insulin resistance and oxidative stress and the treatment of arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease. For
induced by fructose were observed due to the treatment of grape example, quercetin can significantly reduce the level of oxida-
polyphenols [21]. Grape seed polyphenol can also inhibit the tive stress index F2-isoprostane in athletes. In arthritis model
apoptosis of vascular cells through inhibiting ROS produced by mice treated through oral administration of Daphne genkwa
xanthine oxidase [22]. Polyphenols in peach fruits was found flavonoids extract at the dose of 50 mg/kg for 15 consecu-
to have an obvious inhibitory effect on the cell growth and tive days, the arthritis score (ACS) was decreased while the
metastasis of breast cancer. In addition, human breast cancer expression of SOD and GSH-Px enzymes was increased when
cells were transplanted into the model mice, and the model mice compared with the control group [26,27,46]. Studies have found
were subjected to the treatment of 0.8-1.6 mg peach polyphenol that catechin procyanidin in Ginkgo biloba extract can inhibit
each day. The results showed that the expression of metallopro- the aggregation of A␤ and disaggregate the formed fiber, sug-
teinases (MMPs) such as MMP1, MMP2 and MMP13 associated gesting their roles in the treatment of Alzheimer’s diseases and
with the cell growth and metastasis of tumors was significantly other neurodegenerative diseases [47]. A study on 32 elderly
inhibited, and the tumor volume of the model mice in the treat- people treated with fresh G. biloba extract revealed the improved
ment group was significantly reduced, suggesting that peach microcirculation of skin and liver, accelerated scavenging of free
polyphenols can be used as a combinatorial treatment method radicals and the improvement of arteriosclerosis. 30 days after
of chemotherapy to inhibit tumor development at the early stage 270 mg G. biloba extract or placebo treatment, the red cell per-
of tumor [23]. British scientists have found that polyphenols can fusion nodes and blood flow of small veins, and red blood cell
reduce oxidative stress for maintaining the health status of car- volume revealed an obvious higher in the G. biloba extract treat-
diovascular system recently. In their experiment, 66 health adults ment group when compared with the control group. Moreover,
114 S. Li et al. / Food Science and Human Wellness 3 (2014) 110–116

a significantly higher level of GSH as a radical scavenger in the activity, which plays an important role in the clearance of free
G. biloba extract treatment group than that of the control group radicals and prevention of diseases [25,50]. The traditional pre-
was also observed. Therefore, G. biloba has a beneficial effect scription “Siwu Decoction” can prevent oxidative damage, and
on the health of the elderly population [29]. execute anti-cancer function through NRF2 signal pathway [51].
Isoflavones are flavonoids in soybean with anti-cancer func- Kozics et al. [39] found that the extracts of sage and thyme can
tion. Isoflavones can prevent ovarian, cervical and breast significantly reduce DNA damage caused by oxidative stress
cancers. A previous pathological study revealed that the intake of form H2 O2 and 2,3-bimethoxyl-1,4-naphthoquinone in hep-
soybean foods at the amount of 75.3 ± 53.6 g/d in patients with atoma cells and the levels of oxidative stress markers such as
ovarian cancer was significantly lower than that from the control DPPH, FRAP and ABTS. Another prescription “Suhexiang pill”
group (110.7 + 88.8 g/d). Logistic regression analysis indicated can reduce A␤ deposition in model mice with Alzheimer’s dis-
that the consumption of soybean diets can significantly reduce ease, enhance memory and inhibit the apoptosis caused by A␤
the incidence of ovarian cancer [30,31]. and decrease oxidative stress in brain, suggesting its effect on
Anthocyanins are natural water-soluble pigments widely the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease [40].
existing in plants, and with strong antioxidant activity. Foods In recent years, the treatment efficacy of natural herbs has
with dark color such as purple sweet potato, black rice, blue- gained increasing attention, and therefore they have been applied
berry, grape, mulberry and so on have plentiful anthocyanins. for the prevention and treatment of cancers, diabetes, cardio-
Based on the current studies, anthocyanins have an important vascular diseases and other diseases. Meanwhile, more and
function in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular dis- more studies on their bioactive components have been con-
eases, neurodegenerative diseases and cancer [32,48]. The rats ducted. Thus, it will have great and practical significance for the
subjected to the long-term (7 weeks) or short-term (2 weeks) exploitation and utilization of natural antioxidant components
administration of the diet rich in blueberry fruits revealed the in Chinese herbs.
significantly reduced damage from light-induced retinal injury,
indicating the protective role of anthocyanins in neural cells 6. Conclusion
[33]. Blackcurrant richs in anthocyanins is a common drug for
the treatment of Asian and European diseases. A new finding has Antioxidants play an important role in scavenging free radi-
demonstrated that cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside as one of the bioac- cals and maintaining body balance. Here, we discussed the
tive components in blackcurrant extract can significantly inhibit contribution of natural antioxidants in diseases prevention and
the growth of liver cancer HepG2 cells [34]. treatment. In modern life in which nature is advocated, the appli-
Xanthone compounds are natural antioxidants rich in cation of synthetic drugs for the healthcare and prevention of
mangosteen. Xanthones have effects on neuroprotection, anti- diseases apparently is not an optimum choice. Searching natu-
inflammation, anti-oxidative stress and anti-DNA damage. It ral antioxidants to replace synthetic antioxidants is not only the
was reported that the mangosteen extract can execute the pro- trend of pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, but also the
tective function on DNA damage through scavenging • OH and demand of Food Nutriology, even the new development direc-
DPPH• free radicals [35,36]. At present, a variety of flavonoids tion of food industry. Traditional Chinese herbs have attracted
extracts from plants have been applied for the development of more and more attention from scholars at home and abroad,
drug and healthcare products. especially, the treatment efficacy of diseases and healthcare
functions as well as the bioactive components of these natural
5. Bioactive components in Chinese herbs herbs. More and more bioactive components have been iso-
lated and identified, which enables traditional Chinese medicine
Chinese herbs are the plentiful heritages from our ancients. to be an important development direction of modern medicine
Recent studies have also found that many bioactive components and healthcare products. In addition, some scholars have iso-
in Chinese herbs can execute strong antioxidant effects. Scholars lated bioactive substances with strong antioxidant function from
from Taiwan have screened and identified 195 kinds of Chinese fungi, yeast and algae. Natural antioxidants can be used as nat-
herbs with excellent antioxidant activities, which accounts for ural food additives with the new concept of natural healthcare
half of the currently used Chinese herbs. Flavonoids from Panax concepts in food processing and preservation, which will better
notoginseng have strong antioxidant and antibacterial activity meet with the demands of modern society. The extraction and
[49]. Salvia miltiorrhiza also contains a lot of bioactive com- preservation process of natural antioxidants is the development
ponents with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions. Guo target for the future food and medical healthcare industries. The
et al. [37] reported that tanshinol plays a protective role in apo- innovation and improvement in analysis and extraction technol-
ptosis induced by ␥-ray through reducing the generation of ROS, ogy of natural antioxidants in foods is also an urgent matter
inhibiting the release of cytochrome C and blocking the activa- during the development of related industries.
tion of apoptotic factors. The pretreatment of tanshinol on L-02
cells can significantly reduce the level of ROS caused by ␥-ray
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