phenolics, very large group of highly reactive chemical compounds of which phenol (C6H5OH) is the basic building block. These include many natural colour pigments such as the anthocyanins of fruit and dark-skinned grapes, most natural vegetable tannins such as occur in grapes, and many flavour compounds.
The terms polyphenolics or polyphenols are often used as synonyms of phenolics but should be restricted to plant secondary metabolites featuring more than one phenolic ring and derived from specific metabolic pathways, as Quideau et al. explain.
