多酚是植物化学物质中最大的一类化合物之一。膳食多酚的常见来源包括蔬菜、水果、浆果、谷物、全谷物等。由于其原始形式，多酚很难被吸收。膳食多酚经过肠道微生物代谢后形成可生物利用和有效的代谢物。多酚及其衍生代谢物是一类多样化的化合物群，对心血管疾病、癌症、氧化应激、炎症和细菌性疾病具有药理活性。形成的代谢物有时比原始多酚更可生物利用和有效。关于膳食多酚的肠道微生物代谢的研究为多酚丰富食物作为补充饮食的使用提供了新途径。本综述提供了有关多酚分类、肠道微生物代谢、多酚代谢的化学以及肠道微生物代谢产物的药理作用等各个方面的洞见。它还建议研究海洋来源的多酚用于微生物代谢研究。至今，与陆地多酚相比，多酚来自海洋的肠道微生物代谢研究还相对较少。海洋生态系统是一个深奥但部分被探索的植物成分的来源。其中，可食用海藻含有高浓度的多酚，尤其是儿茶素。因此，海藻的微生物代谢研究可以揭示海洋多酚衍生代谢物的药理潜力。© 2023。作者（们）独家授权给纳瓦拉大学。

Polyphenols contribute as one of the largest groups of compounds among all the phytochemicals. Common sources of dietary polyphenols are vegetables, fruits, berries, cereals, whole grains, etc. Owing to their original form, they are difficult to get absorbed. Dietary polyphenols after undergoing gut microbial metabolism form bioaccessible and effective metabolites. Polyphenols and derived metabolites are all together a diversified group of compounds exhibiting pharmacological activities against cardiovascular, cancer, oxidative stress, inflammatory, and bacterial diseases. The formed metabolites are sometimes even more bioavailable and efficacious than the parent polyphenols. Studies on gut microbial metabolism of dietary polyphenols have introduced new approach for the use of polyphenol-rich food in the form of supplementary diet. This review provides insights on various aspects including classification of polyphenols, gut microbiota-mediated metabolism of polyphenols, chemistry of polyphenol metabolism, and pharmacological actions of gut microbial metabolites of polyphenols. It also suggests the use of polyphenols from marine source for the microbial metabolism studies. Till date, gut microbial metabolism of polyphenols from terrestrial sources is extensively studied as compared to marine polyphenols. Marine ecosystem is a profound but partially explored source of phytoconstituents. Among them, edible seaweeds contain high concentration of polyphenols, especially phlorotannins. Hence, microbial metabolism studies of seaweeds can unravel the pharmacological potential of marine polyphenol-derived metabolites.© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to University of Navarra.