Oxidative reactions, polyphenol

Chemical Antioxidant Systems. The antioxidant activity of tea extracts and tea polyphenols have been determined using in vitro model systems which are based on hydroxyl-, peroxyl-, superoxide-, hydrogen peroxide-, and oxygen-induced oxidation reactions (109—113). The effectiveness of purified tea polyphenols and cmde tea extracts as antioxidants against the autoxidation of fats has been studied using the standard Rancimat system, an assay based on air oxidation of fats or oils. A direct correlation between the antioxidant index of a tea extract and the concentration of epigallocatechin gallate in the extract was found (107). 

The total antioxidant activity of teas and tea polyphenols in aqueous phase oxidation reactions has been deterrnined using an assay based on oxidation of 2,2 -azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-sulfonate) (ABTS) by peroxyl radicals (114—117). Black and green tea extracts (2500 ppm) were found to be 8—12 times more effective antioxidants than a 1-mAf solution of the water-soluble form of vitamin E, Trolox. The most potent antioxidants of the tea flavonoids were found to be epicatechin gallate and epigallocatechin gallate. A 1-mAf solution of these flavanols were found respectively to be 4.9 and 4.8 times more potent than a 1-mAf solution of Trolox in scavenging an ABT radical cation. 

Biological Antioxidant Models. Tea extracts, tea polyphenol fractions, and purified catechins have all been shown to be effective antioxidants in biologically-based model systems. A balance between oxidants and antioxidants is critical for maintenance of homeostasis. Imbalances between free radicals and antioxidants may be caused by an increased production of free radicals or decreased effectiveness of the antioxidants within the reaction system. These imbalances can be caused by the radicals overwhelming the antioxidants within the system, or by an excess of antioxidants leading to a prooxidant functionaHty (105—118). When antioxidant defense systems are consistently overwhelmed by oxidative reactions, significant damage can... 

Two different approaches have been used to determine phenols without derivatization. In the first, the corresponding oxalate esters were synthesized in the traditional way (i.e., using oxalyl chloride and triethylamine) [111, 112]. Pen-tachlorophenol, 1-naphthol, bromofenoxim, bromoxynil, and /t-cyanophenol were treated this way, after which the POCL resulting from their reaction was measured in a static system. The second approach exploits the oxidation reaction between imidazole and hydroxyl compounds at an alkaline pH, where hydrogen peroxide is formed [113]. Polyphenols, e.g., pyrogallol, pyrocatechol, and dopa-... 

Polyphenols can act as antioxidants by a number of potential pathways. The most important is likely to be by free radical scavenging, in which the polyphenol can break the radical chain reaction. Polyphenols are effective antioxidants in a wide range of chemical oxidation systems, being capable of scavenging peroxyl radicals, alkyl peroxyl radicals, superoxide, hydroxyl radicals, nitric oxide and peroxynitrate in aqueous and organic environments [121]. This activity is due to the ability of donating an H atom from an aromatic hydroxyl group to a free radical, and the major ability of an aromatic structure to support an unpaired electron by delocalization around the 7i-electron system. Phenolic acids... 

Polyphenols could act as effective chain-breaking antioxidants (AH = POH) through the one-electron transfer reactions 4 and 5 if they produce a stable and relatively nonreactive antioxidant radical (A = PO) [Jovanovic et al., 1994], Reactions 4 and 5 can be represented by the reaction 8, where L or LOO represents the oxidant free radical. This reaction can be decomposed in two half-reactions one reduction (reaction 9) and one oxidation (reaction 10) ... 

Some proteins contain more than one copper site, and are therefore among the most complicated and least understood of all. The active site known as type 4 is usually composed of a type 2 and a type 3 active site, together forming a trinuclear cluster. In some cases, such proteins also contain at least one type 1 site and are in this case termed multicopper oxidases, or blue oxidases [3], Representatives of this class are laccase (polyphenol oxidase) [7-9], ascorbate oxidase (Figure 5.Id) [10], and ceruloplasmin [11], which catalyze a range of organic oxidation reactions. 

Peroxynitrite is a cytotoxic species generated by the reaction between superoxide and nitric oxide. Catechin polyphenols could also decrease the peroxynitrite-induced nitration of tyrosine and protect apolipoprotein B-lOO of LDL from peroxynihite-induced modification of critical amino acids, which contribute to its surface charge. ... 

This review concentrates on instances where both substrate and prod-uct of an individual enzyme are known and where the enzymatic reaction has been studied in a cell-free system. Enzymes discussed elsewhere in this book (mostly oxidative lipoxygenase, polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase) are omitted. 

Wheat lipoxygenase and soybean lipoxygenase, catalyzing oxidation of fatty acids, generate oxidized reaction products that improve the dough-forming properties and baking performance of flour. A similar role is performed by polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase. 

The lag time effect probably results from the inhibition of copper-containing oxidases and other copper-catalyzed oxidative processes in apple by Sporix. These oxidative reactions normally would bring about the rapid loss of AA and permit browning to occur once the added AA was depleted (18). Sporix also would inhibit PPO directly by chelation of its copper (3), thereby decreasing the rate of polyphenol oxidation and subsequent browning. The ability of Sporix to exert its effect on enzymatic browning by these two independent mechanisms probably accounts for the apparent synergism obtained with Sporix-AA combinations. 

Procyanidins are quite reactive and are therefore considered as some of the most unstable natural phenolic compounds [19-20]. They are subject to enzymatic oxidation by polyphenol oxidases as well as to spontaneous oxidation [21], Coupled oxidation reactions involving o-quinones of phenolic acids have been reported [22-24], Procyanidins are thermally labile [25] and can easily undergo molecular rearrangements in acidic or basic media [26]. In model solutions interflavanoid bonds of procyanidins were found to be unstable, but also new carbon-carbon bonds were formed... 

Multicopper oxidases are typically active in the catalytic one-electron oxidation of a variety of diphenolic, polyphenolic, enediolic, and aminophe-nolic substrates 1,53,166,167). The mechanism of these reactions is complex and, as discussed in Section I, it involves a sequence of four one-electron oxidations of substrate molecules. The radical products of these reactions undergo dismutation, as shown in Scheme 21 for the oxidation of ascorbate to semidehydroascorbate radical 168,169). The substrate binds to the enzymes close to type 1 Cu, whereas the trinuclear cluster is only accessible to dioxygen, or other small molecules. This situation is clearly difficult to reproduce in a model system and for this reason the type of model oxidation reactions that have been studied so far using synthetic trinuclear copper complexes is more related to the activity of type 3 Cu enzymes than multicopper oxidases. Nevertheless, such trinuclear complexes open new perspectives in stereoselective catalysis, because one of the metal centers... 

Finally, copper is not entirely inert during wort boiling and appears to catalyse oxidation reactions involving polyphenols, giving rise to greater colour in boiled worts than is the case with stainless steel. While this may not be desirable, the oxidation of some compounds with sulphydryl groupings in copper vessels is said to reduce undesirable sulphurous aromas from the final beer. 

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