抄録
Flavonoids are major polyphenols found in a wide variety of plant foods and beverages. They are a type of biofactors and attract much attention to health benefits such as various diseases’ prevention. Most dietary flavonoids are present in their glycosidic forms. The basic structure of flavonoid aglycone and the type of sugar moiety bound to one or more hydroxy group(s) strongly affect their bioavailability. Information on the bioavailability of dietary flavonoids, that is, their absorption, metabolism, and distribution in vivo, is important for determining their physiological functions. We have investigated the bioavailability of dietary flavonoid glycosides, especially the glycosides of quercetin and soybean isoflavones which are major flavonoids found in Japanese diet, and have identified their conjugated metabolites in the plasma and lymph fluid of rats as well as in human plasma. In this article, the absorption pathway and metabolism of dietary flavonoids with relevance to their chemical structures are summarized.
