We demonstrate a straightforward method to prepare organic colloidal particles based on the spontaneous molecular interactions between small molecular weight actives of natural origin. Representative reactive natural actives from three of the most researched classes of phytochemicals including berberine (isoquinoline alkaloid), tannic acid (polyphenol) and glycyrrhizin (olenane type saponin) were chosen for the study. Binding parameters (association constant, binding enthalpy and entropy) obtained from isothermal titration calorimetry indicated that berberine strongly interacted with tannic acid to form insoluble colloidal complex which could be stabilised in the presence of glycyrrhizin (due to its interaction with both berberine and tannic acid and also due to its amphiphilic nature). Working on this principle, the mutual interactions of these three natural actives were exploited to obtain stable spherical particles with a mean diameter of less than 100 nm (77 nm) simply by mixing the aqueous solutions of berberine:tannic acid:glycyrrhizin at molar ratio of 2:1:1. The involvement of aromatic chromophore (π-π*) system and charged N atom of berberine in the spontaneous interaction between berberine and tannic acid was confirmed from spectral analysis. X-ray diffraction study suggested formation of amorphous organic colloidal particles, and the spherical shape of colloidal particles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy.

Tannins (commonly referred to as tannic acid) are water-soluble polyphenols that are present in many plant foods. They have been reported to be responsible for decreases in feed intake, growth rate, feed efficiency, net metabolizable energy, and protein digestibility in experimental animals. Therefore, foods rich in tannins are considered to be of low nutritional value. However, recent findings indicate that the major effect of tannins was not due to their inhibition on food consumption or digestion but rather the decreased efficiency in converting the absorbed nutrients to new body substances. Incidences of certain cancers, such as esophageal cancer, have been reported to be related to consumption of tannins-rich foods such as betel nuts and herbal teas, suggesting that tannins might be carcinogenic. However, other reports indicated that the carcinogenic activity of tannins might be related to components associated with tannins rather than tannins themselves. Interestingly, many reports indicated negative association between tea consumption and incidences of cancers. Tea polyphenols and many tannin components were suggested to be anticarcinogenic. Many tannin molecules have also been shown to reduce the mutagenic activity of a number of mutagens. Many carcinogens and/or mutagens produce oxygen-free radicals for interaction with cellular macromolecules. The anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic potentials of tannins may be related to their antioxidative property, which is important in protecting cellular oxidative damage, including lipid peroxidation. The generation of superoxide radicals was reported to be inhibited by tannins and related compounds. The antimicrobial activities of tannins are well documented. The growth of many fungi, yeasts, bacteria, and viruses was inhibited by tannins. We have also found that tannic acid and propyl gallate, but not gallic acid, were inhibitory to foodborne bacteria, aquatic bacteria, and off-flavor-producing microorganisms. Their antimicrobial properties seemed to be associated with the hydrolysis of ester linkage between gallic acid and polyols hydrolyzed after ripening of many edible fruits. Tannins in these fruits thus serve as a natural defense mechanism against microbial infections. The antimicrobial property of tannic acid can also be used in food processing to increase the shelf-life of certain foods, such as catfish fillets. Tannins have also been reported to exert other physiological effects, such as to accelerate blood clotting, reduce blood pressure, decrease the serum lipid level, produce liver necrosis, and modulate immunoresponses. The dosage and kind of tannins are critical to these effects. The aim of this review is to summarize and analyze the vast and sometimes conflicting literature on tannins and to provide as accurately as possible the needed information for assessment of the overall effects of tannins on human health.

Fifty-one tannins and forty-one flavonoids isolated from Oriental medicinal herbs were evaluated for their antioxidant ability with a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-generating system. The results showed that tannins and certain flavonoids are potential free-radical scavengers, and that their activity against the DPPH radical is closely associated with their chemical structure. A comparison of the two classes of compounds showed that tannins have more potential than flavonoids because almost all the tannins demonstrated significant scavenging action within a low concentration range, whereas the activity of flavonoids varied distinctively among the different compounds. An increase of galloyl groups, molecular weight, and ortho-hydroxyl structure enhanced the activity of tannins, whereas the number and position of hydroxyl groups were important features for the scavenging of free radicals by flavonoids. Moreover, it appeared that when the free hydroxyl group was methoxylated or glycosylated, the inhibitory activity was obviously decreased or even abolished.

Condensed tannins (CTs) are flavonoid oligomers, many of which have beneficial effects on animal and human health. The flavanol (-)-epicatechin is a component of many CTs and contributes to flavor and astringency in tea and wine. We show that the BANYULS (BAN) genes from Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula encode anthocyanidin reductase, which converts anthocyanidins to their corresponding 2,3-cis-flavan-3-ols. Ectopic expression of BAN in tobacco flower petals and Arabidopsis leaves results in loss of anthocyanins and accumulation of CTs.

Proanthocyanidins (PA)(condensed tannins) and hydrolyzable tannins (HT) are the two major classes of tannins. Proanthocyanidins are flavonoid polymers. Hydrolyzable tannins are polymers of gallic or ellagic acid esterified to a core molecule, commonly glucose or a polyphenol such as catechin. Proanthocyanidins are the most common type of tannin found in forage legumes. Problems in the analysis of tannins are that sample processing and drying decrease extraction and reactivity, suitable standards are unavailable, and quantitative analytical methods are poorly correlated with enzyme inhibition, protein precipitation, and nutritional effects. Hydrolyzable tannins are potentially toxic to ruminants. Pyrogallol, a hepatotoxin and nephrotoxin, is a product of HT degradation by ruminal microbes. Proanthocyanidins are considered to be non-toxic because they are not absorbed, but they are associated with lesions of the gut mucosa. Research on tannins in forage legumes has determined their effects on protein digestion and metabolism but more research on tannin structure in relation to digestion of specific proteins is needed. The widely accepted explanation for positive effects of PA on protein digestion and metabolism is that PA-protein complexes escape ruminal degradation and the protein is available in the lower tract. This proposed mechanism may be incorrect because PA also complex carbohydrates, endogenous proteins, and microbial products and the degradability of PA-protein complexes by ruminal microbes has not been adequately studied. Several alternative hypotheses (to escape protein) that explain the effect of PA on protein digestion and metabolism in ruminants are also consistent with experimental results on forage legumes. These include increased microbial protein synthesis, increased use of endogenous nitrogen in the rumen, and increased secretion of salivary glycoproteins. Research on manipulating the content and type of PA in forage legumes is justified because they are associated with non-bloating legumes, lower soluble non-protein nitrogen in silage, and improved efficiency of protein utilization. Research on the biosynthesis, molecular genetics, and cell biology of PA in forage legumes needs to be integrated with research on toxicology and nutrition.

Tannins are water-soluble polyphenolic compounds having wide prevalence in plants. Hydrolysable and condensed tannins are the two major classes of tannins. These compounds have a range of effects on various organisms--from toxic effects on animals to growth inhibition of microorganisms. Some microbes are, however, resistant to tannins, and have developed various mechanisms and pathways for tannin degradation in their natural milieu. The microbial degradation of condensed tannins is, however, less than hydrolysable tannins in both aerobic and anaerobic environments. A number of microbes have also been isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of animals, which have the ability to break tannin-protein complexes and degrade tannins, especially hydrolysable tannins. Tannase, a key enzyme in the degradation of hydrolysable tannins, is present in a diverse group of microorganisms, including rumen bacteria. This enzyme is being increasingly used in a number of processes. Presently, there is a need for increased understanding of the biodegradation of condensed tannins, particularly in ruminants.

Tannins are polyphenolic compounds, widely distributed in plant-based foods, which have harmful effects on animals including humans. Salivary proline-rich proteins (PRPs) may act as a defence against tannins by forming complexes with them and thereby preventing their interaction with other biological compounds and absorption from the intestinal canal. The aim here was to compare the ability of members of the family of human PRPs to form insoluble complexes with tannin and to assess the stability of such complexes under conditions similar to those in the alimentary tract. Basic PRPs (BPRPs), which have no other known biological functions, were very effective in forming insoluble complexes with both condensed tannin and tannic acid. Practically no tannin bound to acidic PRPs (APRPs) and glycosylated PRPs (GPRPs), suggesting that tannin in the diet would not affect their biological activities. There were only small differences in the tannin-precipitating ability of various BPRPs of different sizes or sequences, indicating that, although there is considerable phenotypic variation of PRPs, it is not likely to cause marked individual variation in tannin-binding ability. Tryptic digestion of an APRP led to a marked increase in tannin binding to the resulting proline-rich peptides, supporting observations in other studies that there may be an interaction between the proline-poor N-terminal and the proline-rich C-terminal regions in native APRPs, which inhibits the biological activities of the proteins. Deglycosylation of a GPRP also led to a dramatic increase in tannin-binding ability, showing that the carbohydrate side-chains prevent binding of tannin. Most of the condensed tannin-PRP complexes remained insoluble under conditions similar to those in the stomach and small intestine, supporting the proposal that PRPs act as a defence against tannin.

Reactivities of several proanthocyanidins (monomers of condensed tannins) and gallate esters (representing hydrolyzable tannins) with hydroxyl radicals, azide radicals, and superoxide anions were investigated using pulse radiolysis combined with kinetic spectroscopy. We determined the scavenging rate constants and the decay kinetics of the aroxyl radicals both at the wavelength of the semiquinone absorption (275 nm) and the absorption band of the gallate ester ketyl radical (400-420 nm). For most compounds second-order decay kinetics were observed, which reflect disproportionation of the semiquinones. In the case of the oligomeric hydrolysable tannins, pentagalloyl glucose and tannic acid, the decay kinetics were more complex involving sequential first-order and second-order reactions, which could only be resolved by kinetic modeling. A correlation of the reaction rates with hydroxyl radicals (k*OH) with the number of adjacent aromatic hydroxyl groups (i.e., representing catechol and/or pyrogallol structures) was obtained for both condensed and hydrolyzable tannins. Similar correlation for the reactions with azide radicals and superoxide anions are less obvious, but exist as well. We consider proanthocyanidins superior radical scavenging agents as compared with the monomeric flavonols and flavones and propose that these substances rather than the flavonoids proper represent the antioxidative principle in red wine and green tea.

The polyphenols present in green tea or red wine comprise both regular flavon(ol)s and proanthocyanidins, i.e., derivatives of flavan-3-ols, whose distinct antioxidative potential is of great importance for explaining the beneficial effects of these nutrient beverages. Using EPR spectroscopy, we investigated radical structures obtained after oxidation of the parent compounds either by horseradish peroxidase/hydrogen peroxide or after autoxidation in moderately alkaline solutions. Both proanthocyanidins (monomers of condensed tannins, e.g.,(+)-catechin,(-)-epicatechin,(-)-epicatechin gallate,(-)-epigallocatechin,(-)-epigallocatechin gallate, Pycnogenol) and gallate esters (hydrolyzable tannins, e.g., propylgallate, beta-glucogallin, pentagalloyl glucose and tannic acid) yielded predominantly semiquinone structures derived from the parent catechol or pyrogallol moieties. Evidence for a time-dependent oligomerization was obtained for (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, supporting our hypothesis that o-quinones formed from the initial semiquinone disproportionation are prone to nucleophilic addition reactions. Such phenolic coupling reactions would retain the numbers of reactive catechol/pyrogallol structures and thus the antioxidative potential. We therefore propose that proanthocyanidins are superior antioxidants as compared to flavon(ol)s proper, whose quinones are more likely to redox-cycle and act as prooxidants.

Phenolic phytochemicals are the largest category of phytochemicals and the most widely distributed in the plant kingdom. The 3 most important groups of dietary phenolics are flavonoids, phenolic acids, and polyphenols. Flavonoids are the largest group of plant phenols and the most studied. Phenolic acids form a diverse group that includes the widely distributed hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids. Phenolic polymers, commonly known as tannins, are compounds of high molecular weight that are divided into 2 classes: hydrolyzable and condensed tannins. Quantification of food phenolics is just beginning, and preliminary results indicate high variability, even within a given food. Phenolics are biologically active compounds that may possess some disease-preventive properties. Evidence for their ability to prevent cancer or heart disease is preliminary and conflicting. The health benefits of phytochemicals have been reported in the popular press, and the public will come to dietitians for answers to their questions about phytochemicals.