**5.3 Therapeutic usefulness**

Phenolic compounds hold a variety of potential therapeutic properties ranging from antioxidant activity, anticancer [22], bacteriostatic, liver-protecting, antiinfection, cholesterol-lowering, immunity enhancement properties [23], cardioprotective and vasodilatory influences [20]. They have increasingly been part of the human diet for centuries for their benefits through the consumption of fruits and vegetables [21, 24].
