Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Margarita Georgia Kakava
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece
Efthymios Alexandros Routsi
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Errikos Petsas
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Nikolaos Stavridis
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Christoforos Freris
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Nikoletta Zoupanou
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Kalliopi Moschovou
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Sofia Kiriakidi
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
Thomas Mavromoustakos
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis Zografou, 15771 Athens, Greece
The study of natural products as potential drug leads has gained tremendous research interest. Quercetin is one of those natural products. It belongs to the family of flavonoids and, more specifically, flavonols. This review summarizes the beneficial pharmaceutical effects of quercetin, such as its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, which are some of the quercetin effects described in this review. Nevertheless, quercetin shows poor bioavailability and low solubility. For this reason, its encapsulation in macromolecules increases its bioavailability and therefore pharmaceutical efficiency. In this review, a brief description of the different forms of encapsulation of quercetin are described, and new ones are proposed. The beneficial effects of applying new pharmaceutical forms of nanotechnology are outlined.
