An Insight into Diverse Activities and Targets of Flavonoids

Background: Flavonoids belong to the chemical class of polyphenols and are in the category of secondary metabolites imparting a wide protective effect against acute and chronic diseases. Objective: The study aims to investigate and summarize the information of various flavonoids extracted, isolated from various sources, and possess different pharmacological properties by acting on multiple targets. Methods: This comprehensive review summarizes the research information related to flavonoids and their pharmacological action targets from various sources like PubMed, Google Scholar and Google websites. Results: Extracted information in the paper discusses various therapeutic effects of flavonoids isolated from medicinal plant sources, which have the property to inhibit several enzymes, which finally results in health benefits like anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, antioxidant, anti-allergic, and anti-viral effects. This study also showed the different solvents and methods involved in the extraction and characterization of the isolated phytochemical constituents. Conclusion: The findings showed the contribution of several flavonoids in the management and inhibition of various acute and chronic sicknesses by acting on different sites in the body. This study may lead to gaining interest for more research on the bioactives of different medicinal plants for the discovery of new lead compounds or further improvement of the efficacy of the existing compound.