LIGNAN

Lignan

The lignans are a group of chemical compounds found in plants. Lignans are one of the major classes of phytoestrogens, which are estrogen-like chemicals and also act as antioxidants. The other classes of phytoestrogens are the isoflavones and coumestans. Plant lignans are polyphenolic substances derived from phenylalanine via dimerization of substituted cinnamic alcohols, known as monolignols, to a dibenzylbutane skeleton 2. This reaction is catalysed by oxidative enzymes and is often controlled by dirigent proteins.

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lignan

Noun

  1. Any of a class of phytoestrogens characterized by the presence of a pair of propylbenzene groupings


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: lignan
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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