Until now only few data have been reported on biochemically explicable pharmacological effects of flavonoid structures. When tested against arachidonic acid metabolism many flavonoids were found to be effective against the lipoxygenase and cyclo-oxygenase pathways. Some flavonoids were predominant inhibitors of either cyclo-oxygenase or lipoxygenase, others were equally effective against both enzymes. Therefore, these compounds proved to be useful tools to elucidate fatty acid peroxidation problems.