Factors affecting bioavailability of flavonoids.

The health effects of flavonoids which are highly found in fruits and vegetables were mostly investigated by in vitro studies and the topics of metabolic changes and bioavailability of these compounds in humans were ignored. However, it is of great importance to provide information on the absorption, bioavailability and metabolism of flavonoids in order to evaluate their health effects. Current literature showed that the factors affecting the bioavailability of flavonoids are related with the flavonoid class, its chemical structure, and the glycoside group attached to its structure. In addition, dosage, vehicle of administration, diet, sex differences, individual genetic properties, microbial population of the colon, and other compounds present in the food material were also found to affect absorption and bioavailability. In this study, the research studies which investigated the bioavailability of flavonoids and the factors affecting it were investigated.