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Review
. 2020 Oct 27;9(11):1048.
doi: 10.3390/antiox9111048.

Antioxidants in Plants: A Valorization Potential Emphasizing the Need for the Conservation of Plant Biodiversity in Cuba

Gabriel Llauradó Maury  1 , Daniel Méndez Rodríguez  2   3   4 , Sophie Hendrix  3 , Julio César Escalona Arranz  5 , Yilan Fung Boix  6 , Ania Ochoa Pacheco  5 , Jesús García Díaz  5 , Humberto J Morris-Quevedo  1 , Albys Ferrer Dubois  6 , Elizabeth Isaac Aleman  6 , Natalie Beenaerts  3 , Isidro E Méndez-Santos  2 , Teresa Orberá Ratón  1 , Paul Cos  4 , Ann Cuypers  3
Affiliations
Review

Antioxidants in Plants: A Valorization Potential Emphasizing the Need for the Conservation of Plant Biodiversity in Cuba

Gabriel Llauradó Maury et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

Plants are phytochemical hubs containing antioxidants, essential for normal plant functioning and adaptation to environmental cues and delivering beneficial properties for human health. Therefore, knowledge on the antioxidant potential of different plant species and their nutraceutical and pharmaceutical properties is of utmost importance. Exploring this scientific research field provides fundamental clues on (1) plant stress responses and their adaptive evolution to harsh environmental conditions and (2) (new) natural antioxidants with a functional versatility to prevent and treat human pathologies. These natural antioxidants can be valorized via plant-derived foods and products. Cuba contains an enormously rich plant biodiversity harboring a great antioxidant potential. Besides opening new avenues for the implementation of sustainable agroecological practices in crop production, it will also contribute to new strategies to preserve plant biodiversity and simultaneously improve nature management policies in Cuba. This review provides an overview on the beneficial properties of antioxidants for plant protection and human health and is directed to the valorization of these plant antioxidants, emphasizing the need for biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: Cuba; antioxidants; crop production; human health; nutraceutical; pharmaceutical; plant biodiversity; plant protection; secondary metabolites.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure A1
Figure A1
Term map for Cuban plant related publications. The bubble map visualizes 544 terms that appeared in at least 10 of the included publications. Bubble size indicates the frequency of occurrence of the words. Bubble color indicates the averaged citation count received by publications containing the word in their titles or abstracts.
Figure A2
Figure A2
Term map for Cuban antioxidant related publications. The bubble map visualizes 258 terms that appeared in at least 10 of the included publications. Bubble size indicates the frequency of occurrence of the words. Bubble color indicates the averaged citation count received by publications containing the word in their titles or abstracts.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Plant antioxidant potential to maintain the cellular redox balance in order to cope with abiotic stress factors. AO = Antioxidants; ROS = Reactive Oxygen Species.
Figure 2
Figure 2
General chemical structures of the main classes of phenolic compounds and their derivatives.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Promoting sustainable agriculture in Cuba based on agroecological practices and using Cuban plant biodiversity as a natural resource.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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