Editorial [(Poly)phenol Chemistry: Part II - Physicochemical Properties & Biological Implications (Guest Editor: Stefan Chassaing)]

... Naturally occurring (poly)phenols are secondary metabolites that constitute an ubiquitous family of natural products, encountered in both plant1 and marine sources2. For illustration, the number of (poly)phenols isolated from the plant kingdom alone already amounts to several thousands (!) and this number still increases in a continuous and impressive manner. Fortunately, Mother Nature does not accomplish the combinatorial synthesis of this family of natural products by accident, these secondary metabolites being demonstrated to be essential actors in chemical ecology.3,4 And what about (poly)phenols effects on human health ? Several epidemiological studies actually suggest that diets rich in (poly)phenols5 have a positive impact on human health, such diets being associated with reduced risk of a number of chronic diseases including cancers, cardiovascular diseases and age-related disorders.6 Hence, this particularly favorable context leads to the recent emergence of diverse individual (poly)phenols as serious candidates for the prevention and treatment of several human diseases.7 As suggested by the title of this issue, (POLY)PHENOL CHEMISTRY: Part II - Physicochemical Properties & Biological Implications aims at giving state-of-the-art details on the main physicochemical properties of (poly)phenols and/or their subsequent biological benefits. For these purposes, this issue is composed of 4 in-depth reviews written by Olivier DANGLES (University of Avignon, Avignon, France), Maite- Teresa ESCRIBANO-BAILON and Celestino SANTOS-BUELGA (Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain), Victor de FREITAS and Nuno MATEUS (Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal), and Michel BALTAS et al. (Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France). The first review of this collection of four essays, contributed by O. DANGLES, points out the remarkable (and popular) antioxidant activity of (poly)phenols by focusing on the corresponding chemical mechanisms and the resulting biological effects.