The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals

Plants have evolved complex mechanisms to cope with diverse abiotic stresses, with the phenylpropanoid pathway playing a central role in stress adaptation. This pathway produces an array of secondary metabolites, particularly polyphenols, which serve multiple functions in plant growth, development,...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Junaid Rao, Bingsong Zheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Antioxidants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/1/74
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author Muhammad Junaid Rao
Bingsong Zheng
author_facet Muhammad Junaid Rao
Bingsong Zheng
author_sort Muhammad Junaid Rao
collection DOAJ
description Plants have evolved complex mechanisms to cope with diverse abiotic stresses, with the phenylpropanoid pathway playing a central role in stress adaptation. This pathway produces an array of secondary metabolites, particularly polyphenols, which serve multiple functions in plant growth, development, regulating cellular processes, and stress responses. Recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying phenylpropanoid metabolism have revealed complex regulatory networks involving MYB transcription factors as master regulators and their interactions with stress signaling pathways. This review summarizes our current understanding of polyphenol-mediated stress adaptations in plants, emphasizing the regulation and function of key phenylpropanoid pathway compounds. We discussed how various abiotic stresses, including heat and chilling stress, drought, salinity, light stress, UV radiation, nanoparticles stress, chemical stress, and heavy metal toxicity, modulate phenylpropanoid metabolism and trigger the accumulation of specific polyphenolic compounds. The antioxidant properties of these metabolites, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, lignin, and polyphenols, and their roles in reactive oxygen species scavenging, neutralizing free radicals, membrane stabilization, and osmotic adjustment are discussed. Understanding these mechanisms and metabolic responses is crucial for developing stress-resilient crops and improving agricultural productivity under increasingly challenging environmental conditions. This review provides comprehensive insights into integrating phenylpropanoid metabolism with plant stress adaptation mechanisms, highlighting potential targets for enhancing crop stress tolerance through metabolic adjustment.
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spelling doaj-art-6d57876a2fd54ce8b2d63f51669fb02f2025-01-24T13:19:24ZengMDPI AGAntioxidants2076-39212025-01-011417410.3390/antiox14010074The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free RadicalsMuhammad Junaid Rao0Bingsong Zheng1State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, College of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, College of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou 311300, ChinaPlants have evolved complex mechanisms to cope with diverse abiotic stresses, with the phenylpropanoid pathway playing a central role in stress adaptation. This pathway produces an array of secondary metabolites, particularly polyphenols, which serve multiple functions in plant growth, development, regulating cellular processes, and stress responses. Recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying phenylpropanoid metabolism have revealed complex regulatory networks involving MYB transcription factors as master regulators and their interactions with stress signaling pathways. This review summarizes our current understanding of polyphenol-mediated stress adaptations in plants, emphasizing the regulation and function of key phenylpropanoid pathway compounds. We discussed how various abiotic stresses, including heat and chilling stress, drought, salinity, light stress, UV radiation, nanoparticles stress, chemical stress, and heavy metal toxicity, modulate phenylpropanoid metabolism and trigger the accumulation of specific polyphenolic compounds. The antioxidant properties of these metabolites, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, anthocyanins, lignin, and polyphenols, and their roles in reactive oxygen species scavenging, neutralizing free radicals, membrane stabilization, and osmotic adjustment are discussed. Understanding these mechanisms and metabolic responses is crucial for developing stress-resilient crops and improving agricultural productivity under increasingly challenging environmental conditions. This review provides comprehensive insights into integrating phenylpropanoid metabolism with plant stress adaptation mechanisms, highlighting potential targets for enhancing crop stress tolerance through metabolic adjustment.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/1/74phenylpropanoid pathwayabiotic stress toleranceMYB regulatory factorspolyphenolsflavonoidsbioactive molecules
spellingShingle Muhammad Junaid Rao
Bingsong Zheng
The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals
Antioxidants
phenylpropanoid pathway
abiotic stress tolerance
MYB regulatory factors
polyphenols
flavonoids
bioactive molecules
title The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals
title_full The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals
title_fullStr The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals
title_full_unstemmed The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals
title_short The Role of Polyphenols in Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Their Antioxidant Properties to Scavenge Reactive Oxygen Species and Free Radicals
title_sort role of polyphenols in abiotic stress tolerance and their antioxidant properties to scavenge reactive oxygen species and free radicals
topic phenylpropanoid pathway
abiotic stress tolerance
MYB regulatory factors
polyphenols
flavonoids
bioactive molecules
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/14/1/74
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