Acutissimin A is a flavono-ellagitannin

Flavono-ellagitannin

The Flavono-ellagitannins or complex tannins are a class of tannins formed from the complexation of an ellagitannin with a flavonoid. Flavono-ellagitannins can be found in Quercus mongolica var. grosseserrata.-Examples:* Acutissimin A...

, a type of tannin formed from the linking of a flavonoid with an ellagitannin

Ellagitannin

The ellagitannins are a diverse class of hydrolyzable tannins, a type of polyphenol formed primarily from the oxidative linkage of galloyl groups in 1,2,3,4,6-Pentagalloyl glucose...

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In 2003, scientists at Institut Européen de Chimie et Biologie in Pessac, France found that when the oak tannin vescalagin interacts with phenols in wine acutissimin A is created. In separate studies this polyphenol

Polyphenol

Polyphenols are a structural class of natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic organic chemicals characterized by the presence of large multiples of phenol structural units...

 has been shown to be 250 times more effective then the pharmaceutical drug Etoposide

Etoposide

Etoposide phosphate is an anti-cancer agent. It is known in the laboratory as a topoisomerase poison. Etoposide is often incorrectly referred to as a topoisomerase inhibitor in order to avoid using the term "poison" in a clinical setting...

 in stopping the growth of cancerous tumors.