4. Resveratrol: the best-known polyphenol

4.1 Bioavailability

In nutrition, as in pharmacological therapeutics and toxicology, the notion of bioavailability is essential to the bioactivity of substances and the potency of their effects. This concerns the processes of absorption, transformation (metabolism), elimination (excretion) and pharmacokinetics. In the case of polyphenols, these phenomena have long been ignored or not taken into account, due to the extreme variety of this family and the consequent difficulty of obtaining these compounds in a purified state, thus limiting traceability studies. In recent years, INSERM U866 has been studying the case of resveratrol. We know that this polyphenol, which is largely in glycosylated form in grapes and wine, undergoes deglycosylation by intestinal flora and the enzyme phlorizine...