Title:Flax Terpenoid Pathway as a Source of Health Promoting Compounds
VOLUME: 13 ISSUE: 3
Author(s):Monika Styrczewska, Anna Kulma, Kamil Kostyn, Karolina Hasiewicz-Derkacz and Jan Szopa
Affiliation:Department of Genetic Biochemistry, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wroclaw, Przybyszewskiego 63/77, 51-148 Wroclaw, Poland.
Keywords:Antioxidant, flax, isoprenoid, mechanism, signaling, terpenoid
Abstract:Flax is an important crop plant grown mainly for its fiber and seeds, which are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids
and valuable antioxidants derived from the terpenoid pathways including carotenoids, tocochromanols and sterols. Many
of those components found in flax have been recently shown to positively influence human health. Although terpenes vary
greatly in their chemical structure, mainly two mechanisms of their biological activity can be considered: direct
antioxidation, and a recently explored one, connected to specific receptor and cell signaling pathway activation. Recent
studies show that many of the health promoting agents derived from flax act through both of the mentioned mechanisms,
resulting in synergistic physiological effects. The work summarizes the two mechanisms, focusing mainly on the one
involving cell signaling, as a promising target for medicine and pharmacotherapy.
