Tocotrienols, the vitamin E of the 21st century, are considered as the other half of the natural vitamin E family. Vitamin
E refers to eight different isoforms (α, β, γ and δ of both saturated tocopherols and unsaturated tocotrienols).
Only, a very small fraction of plants contain tocotrienols. Palm oils, barley and rice bran are the most abundant
sources of tocotrienols. From the chemical point of view, tocotrienols are unsaturated analogues and possess an isoprenoid
side chain.
Recently, attention has been paid towards tocotrienols as high potent antioxidants along with other health promoting
properties. Consequently, the tocotrienols rich sources have been utilized to formulate different functional
foods. This overview summarizes occurrence and chemistry of tocotrienols along with their functions in foods