Lignans are complex diphenolic compounds representing phytoestrogens and occur widely across the plant kingdom. Formed by the coupling of two coniferyl alcohol residues, lignans constitute major ...plant "specialized metabolites" with exceptional biological attributes that aid in plant defence and provide health benefits in humans by reducing the risk of ailments such as cancer, diabetes etc. Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) is one of the richest sources of lignans followed by cereals and legumes. Among the various types of lignans, secoisolariciresinol diglucoside (SDG) is considered as the essential and nutrient rich lignan in linseed. Lignans exhibit established antimitotic, antiviral and anti-tumor properties that contribute to their medicinal value. The present review seeks to provide a holistic view of research in the past and present times revolving around lignans from linseed and its allied species. This review attempts to elucidate sources, structures and functional properties of lignans, along with detailed biosynthetic mechanisms operating in plants. It summarizes various methods for the determination of lignan content in plants. Biotechnological interventions (in planta and in vitro) aimed at enriching lignan content and adoption of integrative approaches that might further enhance lignan content and medicinal and nutraceutical value of Linum spp. have also been discussed.
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•Flax seeds were analyzed by image analysis.•The varieties based on 34 morpho-colorimetric quantitative variables were discrimined.•The effect of crop locality on the quality of seeds was confirmed.
...Linum usitatissimum L., as other fibre plants, has high technical and nutritive value connected to the seed fatty acid composition. The assessment of some seed aspects such as colour, size and shape is important in grading system as well as to characterize accessions of core collections. The data of 34 morphometric and colorimetric features of flax seeds belonging to four Czech varieties tested in 5 different Czech localities, were used to implement an identification and classification grading system, on the basis of two sample datasets: a training set of data to teach the classifier and a different test set of data to validate it. The achieved results suggested the possibility to discriminate both varieties and localities, and the stability of any studied flax seed lot.
The fatty acid composition of the seed oil has been used as a criterion in searching for a rational infrageneric classification of Linum L.. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the ...taxonomic potential of other seed traits such as tocopherols and plastochromanol-8 in this genus. The results revealed that, in addition to fatty acids, tocopherols and plastochromanol-8 possess an important chemotaxonomic value for the genus Linum. Sect. Linum and sect. Syllinum Griseb. clearly differed from each other for the three types of compounds. Sect. Linum was characterized by the presence of plastochromanol-8, a high concentration of linolenic acid, and an intermediate or low concentration of alpha-tocopherol. Contrarily, sect. Syllinum lacked plastochromanol-8 and contained a low concentration of linolenic acid and a high concentration of alpha-tocopherol. The three species evaluated of the section Linastrum (Planch.) Bentham showed no common pattern, questioning their classification within the same section.
Present status of genetics of rust resistance in flax Islam, M.R. (Technical Univ. of Munich, Freising (Germany, F.R.). Inst. of Agronomy and Plant Breeding); Shepherd, K.W
Euphytica,
06/1991, Volume:
55, Issue:
3
Journal Article
