Herbal antioxidants are on the way to becoming an alternative to vitamins and minerals, according to an international team of scientists, including Associate Professor Nikolay Tsvetkov from the Institute of Molecular Biology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The study was published in January 2019 in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity scientific journal.

Antioxidants are biochemical substances present in food products that are beneficial to human health. Their primary property is destroying free radicals caused by toxins, metals, toxic compounds. In this way antioxidants protect us from viruses, bacteria and improve our immune system.

“We have conducted a bibliometric study including 300,000 publications from the last half century and found out that scientists' interest has shifted from vitamins and minerals to natural compounds such as curcumin, resveratrol and cysteine,” Associate Professor Nikolay Tsvetkov says. “These studies of individual natural molecules are mainly due to the fact that scientists have not yet achieved the desired effect of the action of various vitamins they found. Therefore, in recent years, they have decided to study natural compounds and their effects more closely, including their side effects and their metabolism.”

The team led by Bulgarian molecular biologist Prof. Atanas Atanasov from the Department of Pharmacology at the Vienna University has found out that scientists have been increasingly focusing their attention on plant antioxidants and their use to combat the so-called oxidative stress caused by the accumulation of free radicals in the body. Researchers say plant products such as curcumin found in turmeric and resveratrol in red wine can have tremendous potential if applied alone or combined for the prophylaxis and treatment of a number of diseases including diabetes and cancer.

“A lot of research has been done with curcumin and resveratrol, but desired results have not yet been achieved,” Prof. Nikolay Tsvetkov says. “It is still too early to claim that these compounds could be used alone for treatment. But it can be said that research work has shown optimistic results, without claiming that these substances are to become a hit in the treatment of a number of diseases. Similar compounds like resveratrol and curcumin are strongly metabolized in the human body through various pathways but are also hardly soluble in water. Therefore, when given orally, these compounds do not reach the maximum concentrations that would have effect. It is also important to know that antioxidants sometimes can have a pro-oxidative effect.”

Assoc. Prof. Nikolay Tsvetkov adds that nanotechnology is already being used to make natural compounds more accessible to the human body. It is good to get our antioxidants through food, he says. Blueberries, strawberries, spinach, beans, natural chocolate are all products rich in beneficial compounds.

The international team, including scientists from Bulgaria, Romania, Hong Kong, Egypt, will continue their joint work during the year. They will be working on a project that is “truly innovative and first of its kind in Bulgaria.” The project aims at creating new hybrid molecules against Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

English: Alexander Markov