Curiosity, grounded in science
MD, PhD
Exploring the science behind familiar foods, with a clear view of what the evidence can tell us.
Author of The Encyclopedia of Polyphenols
500 plant compounds.
A world of questions to explore.
The book
500 Plant Compounds: Your Guide to Better Health and Longevity
Get to know your food
beyond the nutrition label.
From the foods on your plate to the research behind plant compounds, this illustrated reference connects chemistry, food sources, and scientific evidence in one place.
50in-depth profiles
450concise entries
20illustrations
Inside the encyclopedia
Start with a familiar food, a compound name, or a question about the science.
Open a topic to see what the book covers.
Try the food explorer
What makes a compound a polyphenol? The opening chapters introduce the chemical families, their biological mechanisms, and what happens after you eat them.
Explore absorption, how compounds enter the body, and metabolism, how the body and gut microbes change them.
Foundational chapters 1–4
Look up familiar names such as quercetin, resveratrol, and curcumin. The detailed profiles connect chemical identity, food sources, and research context.
The additional catalogue helps you explore hundreds more polyphenols and related plant compounds, with a compound index for finding your way.
In-depth profiles and Section 3: 450 Additional Compound Entries
Read from the quercetin profileConsider how cooking, processing, and storage affect food composition. Explore a color-coded food guide, pantry staples, and a seven-day plant-diverse meal plan with a shopping list.
The emphasis is on particular foods and preparations, with attention to variation and gaps in the data.
Section 4: The Polyphenol Kitchen
Read a passage from this sectionRead about research on cardiovascular, brain, gut, joint, skin, and other health topics alongside its study limitations.
Laboratory experiments, animal studies, and studies in people answer different questions. The book keeps those distinctions visible, and separates findings about foods, extracts, mixtures, and isolated compounds.
Section 5: Polyphenols for Common Health Goals
Explore oral and topical preparations, formulation, stability, and the research behind ingredient claims.
A study of a particular preparation does not establish the same effects for every product containing that ingredient. The section helps readers keep the formulation and evidence in view.
Section 6: Polyphenols in Skincare
Use 20 illustrations, a glossary, a compound index, and a consolidated bibliography to move from an unfamiliar term to a deeper understanding.
Read from the beginning for the foundations, or return to a topic whenever a new question comes up.
Reference tools throughout the book
Read the opening guideA closer look at everyday foods
Choose a food. Meet a few of its plant compounds, and discover why the details matter.
Explore 8 foods. Search by food, compound or family.
Brewed green tea
Green tea contains a family of related polyphenols called catechins, including EGCG, EGC, and ECG.
Tea samples and brewing conditions differ, so these examples do not describe a fixed amount in every cup.
Brewed coffee
Coffee contains several caffeoylquinic acids, members of the wider chlorogenic acid family.
Roasting and brewing change the composition, so one coffee does not represent every cup.
Cocoa powder and cocoa products
Cocoa contains individual flavan-3-ols and linked compounds called procyanidins. Procyanidin B2 is a two-unit example.
Processing, including roasting and alkalization, changes the polyphenol profile. Cocoa products are not chemically interchangeable.
Blueberry fruit
Blueberries contain anthocyanin pigments alongside other polyphenols, including flavonol glycosides and phenolic acids.
The mixture varies with blueberry type and ripeness. These examples are not a health score or a complete ingredient list.
Extra virgin olive oil
Extra virgin olive oil contains several families of phenolic compounds, including phenolic alcohols and secoiridoid derivatives.
Storage conditions can change the phenolic profile. These examples do not guarantee the composition of a particular bottle.
Apple peel and flesh
Apple peel and flesh contain phenolic acids, flavan-3-ols, and dihydrochalcones; phloridzin is also called phloretin 2′-glucoside.
Peel, flesh, and apple varieties have different profiles. These examples do not specify the composition of every apple product.
Onion bulb
Onions contain quercetin attached to sugars, including mono- and diglucoside forms in the flavonol family.
White, yellow, and red onion samples have different flavonol profiles. These examples are not a ranking of onion varieties.
Sweet orange (Citrus sinensis)
Sweet oranges contain flavanone glycosides such as hesperidin and narirutin, both carrying a rutinose sugar group.
This profile concerns sweet orange. Other citrus species and different parts of the fruit have distinct profiles.
Try a familiar food such as tea, or a compound such as quercetin.
Read a little. Discover more.
A familiar food, a compound profile, a place to begin. Browse three short excerpts in the author’s own words.
Read more on AmazonChoose “Read sample” on the book listing.
The Polyphenol Kitchen
Cooking changes a food’s texture, flavor and chemical composition. Some phenolics move into the cooking liquid; some break down or change form; others become easier to extract from softened tissue. These processes can occur together. The useful question is how a particular food and compound respond to a particular preparation, rather than which appliance always preserves a fixed percentage.
From The Encyclopedia of Polyphenols
A closer look at a compound
Food composition depends on the food and its preparation. USDA Release 3.3 reports mean quercetin values as aglycone equivalents per 100 g edible portion: canned capers 172.55 mg, raw capers 233.84 mg, raw red onions 39.21 mg, raw kale 22.58 mg and raw spinach 3.97 mg. A weighed 9 g portion of canned capers corresponds to about 15.53 mg on that database basis; the record does not quantify a rinsed portion separately. These are aggregated composition values, with substantial sample variation, not a guaranteed amount in every serving. Use the matching cooked-food record when estimating a cooked dish; the raw values do not establish how much a particular cooking method retains (USDA, 2018).
From The Encyclopedia of Polyphenols
A reference and a learning resource
This Encyclopedia is designed as both a reference work and a learning resource. This section orients readers to its structure and offers guidance on how to navigate and apply the information.
From The Encyclopedia of Polyphenols
Short selections from the book. The complete chapters provide further context and references.
About the author
A research background in plant phenolics and their interactions with iron.
Jeffrey E. de Graft-Johnson, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist and the author of The Encyclopedia of Polyphenols. His doctoral research examined the antioxidant and pro-oxidant activity of plant phenolics, including how these compounds interact with iron in reactions that can contribute to oxidative damage.
He wrote The Encyclopedia of Polyphenols to make a wide and often scattered body of research more accessible. The book brings together 500 entries on polyphenols and related plant compounds, exploring their food sources, absorption, metabolism, and potential relevance to health.
Combining clear explanations with practical context, the encyclopedia distinguishes laboratory and animal findings from evidence in people. It helps readers explore the science behind familiar foods while understanding both the possibilities and the limitations of research on plant compounds.
Find Jeffrey on LinkedInFor curious readers
Curious general readers, students, and health and nutrition professionals who want to explore plant compounds and read their science with care. The foundational chapters and glossary provide a place to begin when the terminology is new.
No. It is designed as both a reference and a learning resource. Start with the opening chapters for the foundations, or use the compound index to look up a specific name and follow the cross-references.
It considers laboratory, animal, and human findings in their study context. A laboratory mechanism is not proof of a benefit in people. Results from foods, extracts, mixtures, and isolated compounds are also kept distinct.
The book is an educational reference, not an individualized treatment or supplement plan. It includes discussion of clinical considerations and interactions. Decisions about supplements or medical conditions belong in a conversation with your healthcare professional.
Yes. You can read the short excerpt above, or visit the Amazon paperback listing and choose “Read sample”. Paperback and Kindle links are provided below, with current purchase details on Amazon.
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