Flavones

Flavones (flavus = yellow), are a class of flavonoids based on the backbone of 2-phenylchromen-4-one (2-phenyl-1-benzopyran-4-one) shown on the right.

Natural flavones include apigenin (4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone), luteolin (3',4',5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone), tangeritin (4',5,6,7,8-pentamethoxyflavone), chrysin (5,7-dihydroxyflavone), 6-hydroxyflavone, baicalein (5,6,7-trihydroxyflavone), scutellarein (5,6,7,4'-tetrahydroxyflavone), and wogonin (5,7-dihydroxy-8-methoxyflavone). Synthetic flavones include diosmin, flavoxate, and 7,8-dihydroxyflavone.

Flavone also refers to the flavone compound 2-phenyl-4H-chromen-4-one.

Intake and putative beneficial effects

Flavones are mainly found in cereals and herbs. In the West, the estimated daily intake of flavones is in the range 20–50 mg per day. In recent years, scientific and public interest in flavones has grown, but there remains insufficient evidence that flavones have any effect in the human body. As interpreted by the Linus Pauling Institute, dietary flavones, and more generally polyphenols, have little or no direct antioxidant food value following digestion. Not like controlled test tube conditions, the fate of flavones or polyphenols in vivo shows they are poorly conserved (less than 5%), with most of what is absorbed existing as metabolites modified during digestion and destined for rapid excretion.