Obesity is one of the greatest public health problems. This complex condition has reached epidemic proportions in many parts of the world, and it constitutes a risk factor for several chronic ...disorders, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. In the last few decades, several studies dealt with the potential effects of natural products as new safe and effective tools for body weight control. Saponins are naturally-occurring surface-active glycosides, mainly produced by plants, whose structure consists of a sugar moiety linked to a hydrophobic aglycone (a steroid or a triterpene). Many pharmacological properties have been reported for these compounds, such as anti-inflammatory, immunostimulant, hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic, antifungal and cytotoxic activities. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of recent studies about the anti-obesity therapeutic potential of saponins isolated from medicinal plants. Results on the in vitro and in vivo activity of this class of phytochemicals are here presented and discussed. The most interesting findings about their possible mechanism of action and their potential health benefits in the treatment of obesity are reported, as well.
Common onion (
L.) is one of the oldest cultivated plants, utilized worldwide as both vegetable and flavouring. This species is known to contain sulphur amino acids together with many vitamins and ...minerals. A variety of secondary metabolites, including flavonoids, phytosterols and saponins, have also been identified. Despite the predominant use of this plant as food, a wide range of beneficial effects have also been proved. Different biological properties, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial and antidiabetic, have been reported. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the studies concerning the beneficial effects of this species against obesity and its related comorbidities, such as hyperlipidaemia, hypertension and diabetes. Both in vitro and in vivo results about onion dietary supplementation have been taken into account. Furthermore, this review examines the possible role of onion bioactive components in modulating or preventing weight-gain or related diseases, as well as the possible mechanisms behind their activity.
Wild foods constitute an essential component of people's diets around the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over 100 million people in the EU consume wild foods, while ...65 million collect some form of wild food themselves. The Mediterranean basin is a biodiversity hotspot of wild edible species. Nowadays, due to the renewed interest in alimurgic plants and the recent findings on the beneficial role of their phytochemical constituents, these species have been defined as "new functional foods". Research on natural products has recently regained importance with the growing understanding of their biological significance. Botanical food supplements marketed for weight and fat loss in obese subjects will be one of the most important items in marketed nutraceuticals. The aim of this report was to review the phytochemical compounds of Mediterranean wild edible species and their therapeutic potential against obesity and its related disorders. Results on the in vitro and in vivo activity of the most interesting plant extracts and their bioactive components are presented and discussed. The most interesting discoveries on their mechanisms of action are reported as well. Overall, this contribution highlights the importance and beneficial health roles of wild edible species.
The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of most recent studies about potential pharmaceutical applications of plants belonging to
Origanum
genus. Oregano is one of the most famous and ...economically important culinary herbs in the world. The genus
Origanum
includes more than 70 species mainly distributed around the Mediterranean region. The vernacular name “oregano” is attributed to a vast number of species.
O. vulgare
L. is the most variable species of the genus and the most commonly known as oregano in most countries. Today, it is generally accepted that oregano is a characteristic flavour produced by a number of plant species that yield carvacrol-rich essential oils. The genus
Origanum
is characterised by a large morphological and chemical diversity. Because of their several biological activities, such as antimicrobial, expectorant, antispasmodic and carminative,
Origanum
species have been used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. The botany and chemotaxonomy of the species are thoroughly reported, along with chemical constituents. The in vitro and in vivo effects of
Origanum
extracts are presented and discussed.
Iridoids represent a large group of cyclopentacpyran monoterpenoids that occur wide-spread in nature, mainly in dicotyledonous plant families like Apocynaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Diervillaceae, ...Lamiaceae, Loganiaceae and Rubiaceae. Recently, more extensive studies revealed that iridoids exhibit a wide range of bioactivity, such as neuroprotective, antinflammatory and immunomodulator, hepatoprotective and cardioprotective effects. Anticancer, antioxidant, antimicrobic, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic, choleretic, antispasmodic and purgative properties were also reported. The aim of the present review is to discuss the recent developments on biological and pharmacological activities of iridoids, supporting the new therapeutic possibilities for the use of these compounds.
Plants from the genus Hypericum, one genus of the Hypericaceae family, have attracted a lot of attention for their potential pharmaceutical applications. Most of the studies in the literature focus ...on H. perforatum L. (common St. John's wort), whose complex spectrum of bioactive compounds makes this species one of the top herbal remedies and supplements in the world. It is also important to compare the studies on other Hypericum species, both from the phytochemical and biological point of view. The aim of this review was to provide an update of most recent studies about biological investigations of plants belonging to Hypericum genus. The metabolic profiles of Hypericum spp. were also discussed in order to present a spectrum of secondary metabolites not previously identified in this genus.
The chemical composition and antioxidant activities of wild and cultivated Laurus nobilis leaves and Foeniculum vulgare subsp. piperitum seeds were determined. Differences were found in the total ...phenolic content of fennel. GC-MS analysis of the non polar fractions showed a different composition between wild and cultivated plants. Cultivated laurel had a high content of terpenes such as linool, α-terpinol, α-terpinyl acetate, thymol, caryophyllene, aromandrene, selinene, farnesene, and cadinene, while wild laurel had a high content of eugenol and methyl eugenol, vitamin E, and sterols. The antioxidant potential of the extracts was determined using three complementary methods. Wild plants showed greater radical scavenging activity than the cultivated plants. The extracts also exhibited a significant antioxidant capacity also in the β-carotene–linoleic acid test system. A high level of antioxidant activity was observed in wild laurel (IC50=1 μg/ml). Significant antioxidant activity measured in bovine brain was observed in wild laurel.
The aim of the present work was to evaluate the chemical composition and the radical-scavenging and antioxidant activities of hot pepper fruits (
Capsicum annuum L. var.
acuminatum) at three maturity ...stages (small green, green and red). GC–MS analysis of
n-hexane and chloroform fractions showed a different composition between the three stages of ripening. The first stage of maturation (small green) showed the highest radical-scavenging activity (IC
50 of 129
μg/ml). Using the bovine brain peroxidation assay, the methanolic extract of green pepper showed significant antioxidant activity (IC
50 of 522
μg/ml). Addition of methanolic extract of red and green pepper inhibited oxidation of linoleic acid. Methanolic extract of red pepper showed greater antioxidative potency than the others (IC
50 of 3
μg/ml). The different composition of lipophilic compounds and the various amount of phenolics, showed in the three stage of ripening of
C. annuum var.
acuminatum fruits, modifies the antioxidant activity.
The physiological responses to estrogen hormones are mediated within specific tissues by at least two distinct receptors, ERα and ERβ. Several natural and synthetic molecules show activity by ...interacting with these proteins. In particular, a number of vegetal compounds known as phytoestrogens shows estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity. The majority of these compounds belongs to the isoflavones family and the most representative one, genistein, shows anti-proliferative effects on various hormone-sensitive cancer cells, including breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. In this work we describe the identification of structurally related homoisoflavones isolated from Leopoldia comosa (L.) Parl. (L. comosa), a perennial bulbous plant, potentially useful as hormonal substitutes or complements in cancer treatments. Two of these compounds have been selected as potential ligands of estrogen receptors (ERs) and the interaction with both isoforms of estrogen receptors have been investigated through molecular docking on their crystallographic structures. The results provide evidence of the binding of these compounds to the target receptors and their interactions with key residues of the active sites of the two proteins, and thus they could represent suitable leads for the development of novel tools for the dissection of ER signaling and the development of new pharmacological treatments in hormone-sensitive cancers.
The genus Hypericum includes more than 450 species distributed in Europe, North America, North Africa and West Asia. These plants are widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of inflammation, ...bacterial and viral infections, burns and gastric disorders. The use for alleviating inflammation and promoting wound healing is well known for H. Perforatum L. (St. John's wort) and other species. Because of its pharmacological activity, H. perforatum L. is one of the most important species of this genus. This plant has been largely utilized for its efficacy in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. However, some other species have been utilized in traditional medicine and have been studied for their phytochemical composition and for their biological activities to date. Hypericum species contain biologically active secondary metabolites belonging to at least ten different classes, with prevalence of naphthodianthrones (hypericin and pseudohypericin), phloroglucinols (hyperforin), flavonoids (rutin, hyperoside, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, quercetin, amentoflavone) and phenylpropanoids (chlorogenic acid). However, great variations in contents have been reported for wild populations worldwide. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of most recent studies about potential pharmaceutical applications of plants belonging to Hypericum genus. The most interesting isolated active principles and both in vitro and in vivo effects of Hypericum extracts are presented and discussed.
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