Polyphenol

Polyphenols are a large family of plant compounds built from phenol rings, found in fruits, vegetables, tea, cocoa, herbs and hemp, and studied for antioxidant activity.

The family includes flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes such as resveratrol, and lignans, with thousands of individual compounds identified. Plants make them for pigment, UV protection and defense against pests. In hemp, polyphenols are present in the leaves and flower and include the cannflavins, flavonoids unique to cannabis, along with common ones such as quercetin and kaempferol. Extraction method and purification determine how much of this material reaches a finished product; isolates contain none.

Polyphenols are one of the groups invoked in the entourage effect hypothesis, and they are also common additives in wellness products through ingredients such as green tea extract, turmeric and grape seed. In the laboratory they show antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, but their absorption is generally low and variable, and effects observed in cells rarely translate directly to people. Human research on hemp polyphenols is early. On a certificate of analysis they are not routinely measured; product labels list them, if at all, under other ingredients.