1: Introduction to Flavonoids and Chemoprevention

The use of plant materials to treat human diseases can be found throughout history and is documented in the ancient texts of China, Egypt, and India. In ancient China, the best recognized, earliest work was authored in approximately 2700 BC by Emperor Shen Nung, who is often referred to as the father of Chinese medicine. He is credited with tasting 365 herbs and classifying them in part, on their relative toxicity. Many Chinese herbal medicines that are currently used can be traced to the work of Emperor Nung. In ancient India, the system of medicine known as Ayurveda, is thought to have originated between 1500 and 2000 BC. Ayurveda texts cite 6,000 medicines which are primarily plant-based to be used for the treatment of a variety of ailments and diseases. Traditional Ayurvedic medicines are polyherbal and contain combined mixtures of plant extracts that are thought to interact synergistically. Approximately 15,000 medicinal plants in India have been documented, but the full identification of medicinal plants and their potential therapeutic value is still thought to be incomplete. Ongoing research efforts focused on identifying active pharmacological components of these herbal mixtures have discovered the integral role that flavonoids play in these ancient recipes…