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Vitamin E, Tocopherol.
Vitamin E is a generic term for tocopherols which taken from the Greek words tokos,meaning offspring, and phero, meaning to bear, and tocotrienols. Vitamin E is a family of α -, β -, γ -, and δ - (respectively: alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) tocopherols and corresponding four tocotrienols. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble antioxidant that stops the production of reactive oxygen species formed when fat undergoes oxidation.
It has been claimed that α -tocopherol is the most important lipid-soluble antioxidant, and that it protects cell membranes from oxidation by reacting with lipid radicals produced in the lipid peroxidation chain reaction. This would remove the free radical intermediates and prevent the oxidation reaction from continuing. The oxidised α -tocopheroxyl radicals produced in this process may be recycled back to the active reduced form through reduction by other antioxidants, such as ascorbate, retinol or ubiquinol. However, the importance of the antioxidant properties of this molecule at the concentrations present in the body are not clear and it is possible that the reason why vitamin E is required in the diet is unrelated to its ability to act as an antioxidant.
Source: www.wikipedia.org
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