Plants contain natural chemicals called phytonutrients. These chemicals actually help the plant to protect itself against pathogens like harmful bacteria, fungi, etc. They also protect the plant from the suns UV – how amazing is that !
This is a list of 6 important ones:
- Carotenoids
- Ellagic acid
- Flavonoids
- Resveratrol
- Glucosinolates
- Phytoestrogens
Carotenoids
Think Carrot – or the same colour, bright orange, yellow and red hues. The pigment helps plants absorb light energy for photosynthesis. This phytonutrient has an important antioxidant function of deactivating free radicals — single oxygen atoms that can damage cells by reacting with other molecules. They also have a similar effect in the human body helping protect us from cancer and various other diseases.
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