• A highly potent antioxidant
• PGG has anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activity.
• Tannin based
• Potent anti-microbial

Pentagalloylglucose (PGG) should be known better although its chemical name is 1,2,3,4,6-Penta-O-Galloyl-β-d-Glucose. It is a hydrolysable tannin that belongs to the group of gallotannins but also participates in the formation of ellagitannins. It has been extensively reviewed (Zhang et al., 2009; Torres-León et al., 2017).

The polyphenol -tannin was isolated from Pistacia lentiscus   where its in vitro antioxidant and anti-cancer activities were examined (Abdelwahed et al., 2007). Antioxidant activity was assayed by its ability to scavenge the free radical 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), to inhibit xanthine oxidase and to inhibit the lipid peroxidation induced by hydrogen peroxide in a tumour cell line. The anti-cancer and anti-diabetic activities were examined further by Zhang et al., (2009).

Plants which contain this tannin also include Rhus chinensis Mill (Huh et al., 2005) and Paeonia suffruticosa (Ren and Chen, 2007) where it forms the basis of their medicinal properties.

References

Abdelwahed, A., Bouhlel, I., Skandrani, I., Valenti, K., Kadri, M., Guiraud, P., … & Dijoux-Franca, M. G. (2007). Study of antimutagenic and antioxidant activities of Gallic acid and 1, 2, 3, 4, 6-pentagalloylglucose from Pistacia lentiscus: Confirmation by microarray expression profiling. Chemico-biological Interactions, 165(1), pp. 1-13

Huh, J.E., Lee, E.O., Kim, M.S., et al. (2005) Penta-O-galloyl-beta-D-glucose suppresses tumor growth via inhibition of angiogenesis and stimulation of apoptosis: roles of cyclooxygenase-2 and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. Carcinogenesis. 26(8) pp. 1436–45

Ren, Y.M., Chen, X.Z. (2007) Distribution, Bioactivities and Therapeutical Potentials of Pentagalloylglucopyranose. Current Bioactive Compounds. 3 pp. 81–9

Torres-León, C., Ventura-Sobrevilla, J., Serna-Cock, L., Ascacio-Valdés, J. A., Contreras-Esquivel, J., & Aguilar, C. N. (2017). Pentagalloylglucose (PGG): A valuable phenolic compound with functional properties. Journal of Functional Foods, 37, pp. 176-189 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2017.07.045

Zhang, J., Li, L., Kim, S. H., Hagerman, A. E., & Lü, J. (2009). Anti-cancer, anti-diabetic and other pharmacologic and biological activities of penta-galloyl-glucose. Pharmaceutical Research, 26(9), 2066-2080 doi: 10.1007/s11095-009-9932-0