Quercetin is a natural polyphenolic compound found in plants. It has several beneficial health benefits, due, in part, to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. It may also have antimicrobial properties. In this 2020 paper published in Food Microbiology, the authors showed that quercetin damaged bacterial membranes (making them more permeable) and reduced biofilm formation (which we will discuss next week).
Interestingly, the research observed that quercetin repressed synthesis of stress response genes. What might be the significance of that finding?
Image from sarahs-world.blog/