Texas Tech Nutrition Exit Practice Test

Flavonoids are plant-derived polyphenolic compounds produced by plants through specific biosynthetic pathways, not by processes of free radical metabolism in the body. In nutrition, their significance lies in their ability to act as antioxidants, scavenging reactive oxygen species and helping protect cells from oxidative damage. Some flavonoids do function as pigments, contributing to the color of fruits, flowers, and leaves, but being pigments isn’t what defines flavonoids. Since they originate from plant metabolism rather than as byproducts of free radical breakdown, the statement that flavonoids are products of free radical metabolism is false.