ABSTRACT

Vegetable have been found to contain phyochemica1s with demonstrated activity which makes them very useful chemoprevention, treatment and control of diverse diseases Ames (1983) and Oguntona (1988) reported independently that vegetable provide some measure of protein against cancer, cardiovascular disease and attributed this to the presence of phytocheinicals in the plants. Also, Haslam (1989) associated reduced incidences of heart disease to phenolic compounds in food which act as antioxidants for low-density lipoproteins (LDLs). Antioxidants are molecules that can neutralise free radicals that damage living cells, soil food, and damage materials such as rubber, gasoline and lubricating oils (Hennekens and Cheung, 1994). Morgan et al (1996) classified antioxidant into primary and secondary classes. The primary antioxidants are the chain-breaking ones which react with lipids to convert them to a more stable product. This is usually achieved by addition of a hydrogen atom to lipid-free radicals. Example of primary antioxidants includes: gallic acid, tocopherol and plant based chemicals like flavonoids. Secondary antioxidants act by inhibiting the effect of pro-oxidations and examples includes: phospholipids which have a synergic effect with primary antioxidants by chelating pro-oxidant metallic ions.