21 Protection Studies by Antioxidants Using Single

Oxidation-reduction reactions, simply referred as “redox” reactions, describe all the chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. This can either be a simple redox process like the oxidation of carbon (C) to carbon dioxide (CO2) or the reduction of C by hydrogen (H) to yield methane (CH4). However, in biology redox reactions are rather complex and ‘redox biology’ is fundamental to aerobic life (Peters et al., 2008; Baliga et al., 2007). The simplest example to give is the oxidation of glucose to CO2 and water in photosynthesis (Halliwell, 2006).