This book provides a comprehensive reference guide to plant-derived antioxidants, their beneficial effects, mechanisms of action, and role in disease prevention and improving general health (anti-ageing effect).

The content is divided into three main parts, the first of which covers various antioxidants (such as polyphenols, carotenoids, tocopherols, tocotrienols, glutathione, ascorbic acid), their origins, plant biochemistry and industrial utilization. In turn, the book's second, main part focuses on antioxidants' beneficial health effects, explains biochemical fundamentals such as the free radical theory and oxidative stress, and discusses antioxidants' role in e.g. cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, degenerative diseases and ageing. The third part reviews general laboratory methods for antioxidant screening, preservation and determination.

H. M. Ekiert is Head and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Botany at the Medical College of Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Her scientific interests include: plant biotechnology (plant in vitro cultures, endogenic production of bioactive products, biotransformation of egzogenic substrates), phytochemistry (quantification of natural products, isolation of natural products), biotechnology of mushrooms, natural products, bioactive compounds (especially coumarins, phenolic acids, flavonoids, schisandra lignans, nonhalucinogenic indole compounds, polysaccharides), biological activity of plant metabolites, especially antioxidants.

She published more than 110 articles, 8 book chapters and already edited the book "Plant Cell and Tissue Differentiation and Secondary Metabolites" also published in the Reference Series in Phytochemistry in 2019. She received postdoctoral fellowships at serval German universities (Bonn - 1998, Würzburg - 1998, Marburg am Lahn - 2000, two stays) and the stays in Bonn and Marburg/Lahn were supported by DAAD - German Academic Exchange Service. After habilitation she also visited the Universitys of Braunschweig (2008), Bonn (2015) and Dortmund (2015).

Professor Dr. Kishan G. Ramawat is a Former Professor & Head of the Botany Department, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India. He has 45 years of research experience in the areas of medicinal plants and secondary metabolites. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Biotechnology from the University of Jodhpur, India in 1978, and subsequently joined the university as a faculty member. In 1991 he moved to the M.L. Sukhadia University in Udaipur, initially as an Associate Professor, and became a Professor in 2001.

Prof. Ramawat completed his postdoctoral studies at the University of Tours, France from 1983 to 1985, and later often returned to France as a Visiting Professor (mainly to Tours and Bordeaux). Prof. Ramawat has published more than 175 peer-reviewed papers and articles, and edited several books and reference works. In addition, Prof. Ramawat is an active member of several academic bodies and associations and serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals.

Dr. Jaya Arora is Assistant professor in the Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur since 2012. She did her M.Sc. (2006) and Ph.D. (2012) from M.L.S. University, Udaipur. She had qualified National Eligibility Test (CSIR) in 2008 and obtained national fellowship for Ph.D. and also qualified for the job of assistant professor. For the past 13 year, she works on production of useful polyphenolic metabolites from medicinal plants using biotechnological methods and published more than 20 journal articles and book chapters. Currently she is supervising 5 Ph.D. Students.