scholarly journals The Potential Gastrointestinal Health Benefits of Thymus Vulgaris Essential Oil: A Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (04) ◽  
pp. 1793-1799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz Almanea ◽  
Gamal S. Abd El-Aziz ◽  
Mohamed Morsi M. Ahmed

In recent times, medicinal plants have received great attention worldwide due to their effective pharmacological properties and therapeutic benefits. Numerous chemical compounds extracted from various medicinal plants have manifold biological activities. Thymus vulgaris (TV) is a flowering plant with an aromatic odor that has been broadly applied in conventional medicine, food additives, and phyto-pharmaceutical preparations. It is recognized to have promising therapeutic potential for curing various types of diseases. The essential oil extracted from TV, which contains a high quantity of flavonoids, possess antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Consequently, it could be utilized as a good source in developing novel natural antioxidants and antibiotics. This review explores some of the potential health benefits of TV essential oil (TVEO) on the gastrointestinal tract.

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 2669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor T. Nyakudya ◽  
Thulani Tshabalala ◽  
Rachael Dangarembizi ◽  
Kennedy H. Erlwanger ◽  
Ashwell R. Ndhlala

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a prevalent, multifactorial and complex disease that is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes and other major cardiovascular complications. The rise in the global prevalence of MetS has been attributed to genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. The adoption of sedentary lifestyles that are characterized by low physical activity and the consumption of high-energy diets contributes to MetS development. Current management criteria for MetS risk factors involve changes in lifestyle and the use of pharmacological agents that target specific biochemical pathways involved in the metabolism of nutrients. Pharmaceutical drugs are usually expensive and are associated with several undesirable side effects. Alternative management strategies of MetS risk factors involve the use of medicinal plants that are considered to have multiple therapeutic targets and are easily accessible. Medicinal plants contain several different biologically active compounds that provide health benefits. The impact of phytochemicals present in local medicinal plants on sustainable health and well-being of individuals has been studied for many years and found to involve a plethora of complex biochemical, metabolic, and physiological mechanisms. While some of these phytochemicals are the basis of mainstream prescribed drugs (e.g., metformin, reserpine, quinine, and salicin), there is a need to identify more medicinal plants that can be used for the management of components of MetS and to describe their possible mechanisms of action. In this review, we assess the potential health benefits of South African ethnomedicinal plants in protecting against the development of health outcomes associated with MetS. We aim to provide the state of the current knowledge on the use of medicinal plants and their therapeutically important phytochemicals by discussing the current trends, with critical examples from recent primary references of how medicinal plants are being used in South African rural and urban communities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-396
Author(s):  
Ashfaq Ahmad Khan ◽  
Muhammad Shoaib Amjad ◽  
Saboon

Abstract Background Essential oils are chemical products produced by odoriferous glands from a variety of plants. These essential oil have many health benefits i.e. antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities. So due to these medicinal properties present study was designed to analyze essential oil of Thymus vulgaris and Mentha arvensis for their chemical composition and biological activities. Materials and methods Essential oil from these plants were extracted by hydrodistillation method, and analyzed by GC-MS. To test the microbial activity of these oil disk diffusion method and micro wells method were used. For free radical scavenging DPPH assay was used. However total phenolic content was measured by colorimetric method. Results The GC-MS analysis of T. vulgaris oil showed the presence of 47 chemical compounds among which thymol, terpinene, p-cymene and carvacrol were major. However essential oil of M. arvensis showed the presence of 28 constituents, among which the Menthone, Menthol, Isomenthone, Eucalyptol, neo-Menthol, cis-Piperitone oxide, Linalool, Thymol, Limonene, and α-Phellandrene were major. Essential oil from both these plant tested for antimicrobial activity showed that the T. vulgaris oil was effective against seven bacterial strains and the essential oil of M. arvensis was effective against six bacterial strain. The antioxidant activity of both samples by DPPH assay which showed positive result. Conclusion As both species showed the presence of active components, positive microbial activities, and antioxidant activity so, research should be carried on for further biological activities of these oil for betterment of living beings.


2008 ◽  
Vol 71 (3) ◽  
pp. 502-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. CARRAMIÑANA ◽  
C. ROTA ◽  
J. BURILLO ◽  
A. HERRERA

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of winter savory (Satureja montana) essential oil (EO) for control of growth and survival of experimentally inoculated Listeria monocytogenes serovar 4b (104 CFU/g) among natural flora in minced pork. EOs of French thyme (Thymus vulgaris F) and rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) cultivated in the same region of Aragon (northeastern Spain) were used as reference ingredients. The EOs obtained by hydrodistillation were added at concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1, and 2.5 μl/g (vol/wt), and the samples were kept at 4°C in air for up to 7 days. The populations of L. monocytogenes and total viable bacteria were determined in the control and treated samples at 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7 days. Moderate activity of S. montana EO against L. monocytogenes was observed (at 2.5 μl/g, reductions of 0.27 log CFU/g by day 3 and 0.61 log CFU/g by day 7), with higher activity against aerobic flora. The greatest reduction in aerobic flora was on day 3 (at 2.5 μl/g) from 1.10 to 1.45 log CFU/g. S. montana EO was comparable to T. vulgaris F EO in listericidal activity, but R. officinalis EO was ineffective against the L. monocytogenes and aerobic flora in the minced meat model. The ~3-log reduction in aerobic flora with T. vulgaris F EO at 0.25 to 2.5 μl/g after 5 days of storage was the most significant reduction. Depending on sensory considerations, the addition of active EOs in combination with other preservation techniques for synergistic effects may provide alternatives to synthetic chemical preservatives. Suggestions on relationships between chemical composition and biological activities of EOs are outlined.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (24) ◽  
pp. 9653
Author(s):  
Adelina Lombrea ◽  
Diana Antal ◽  
Florina Ardelean ◽  
Stefana Avram ◽  
Ioana Zinuca Pavel ◽  
...  

Origanum vulgare L. is a widely used aromatic plant, especially due to its content in essential oil, mainly rich in carvacrol and thymol. The ethnopharmacological uses of Origanum vulgare L. essential oil (OEO) comprise digestive, respiratory, or dermatological disorders. The review focuses on the increasing number of recent studies investigating several biological activities of OEO. The bioactivities are in tight relation to the phytochemical profile of the essential oil, and also depend on taxonomic, climatic, and geographical characteristics of the plant material. The antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, skin disorders beneficial effects, next to antihyperglycemic and anti-Alzheimer activities were reported and confirmed in multiple studies. Moreover, recent studies indicate a positive impact on skin disorders of OEO formulated as nanocarrier systems in order to improve its bioavailability and, thus, enhancing its therapeutic benefits. The review brings an up to date regarding the phytochemistry and bioactivity of Origanum vulgare L. essential oil, underlining also the most successful pharmaceutical formulation used for skin disorders.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 224-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenwen Liu ◽  
Changshui Xu ◽  
Xi Sun ◽  
Haibin Kuang ◽  
Xiaodong Kuang ◽  
...  

Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract (GSPE) is a rich source of proanthocyanidins with multiple biological activities and potential health benefits.


Author(s):  
Abubakar Sani ◽  
Muhammad Sulaiman Rahama

Buchu (Barosma betulina) is a small flowering plant found in the family Rutaceae in Western Cape of South Africa, Namibia and Australia, capable of growing up to 2 meters with a simple rounded leaf that produced essential oil of strong peppermint and sweetish smell. The Buchu oil as an essential oil consist of many chemical constituents, the main components includes piperitone, pulegone, piperitone epoxide, iso-menthone, P-menthane-8-thiol3-one, 4-diosphenol. The piperitone epoxide and Pmenthane-8-thiol-3-one constituents in Buchu oil have high commercial values, which extensively used as fragrances in perform, flavor, food additives, tonic and medicinal stimulant in modern medicine in the manufacture of insecticides, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and antioxidant in cosmetic products. The extinction threat of the plant and chemistry benefit of these chemical constituents initiate scientist with synthetic route for synthesizing the compounds from Eucalyptus dives oil and pennyroyal oil, which are also an essential oils and abundant in nature. In the synthesis, purified piperitone and pulegone from the Eucalyptus dives oil and pennyroyal oil produced two enatiotiomers of piperitone epoxide and P-menthane-8- thiol-3-one respectively. The analytical analysis such infrared and GC-Mc conducted for the starting materials, synthesis processes and synthesize products showed results of significant value in terms chemical reactions and structural re-arrangement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teketay Wassie ◽  
Kaimin Niu ◽  
Chunyan Xie ◽  
Haihua Wang ◽  
Wu Xin

There is increasing interest in the use of marine algae as functional food additives for improving human health. Enteromorpha (Ulva) prolifera (E. prolifera) is a seaweed green alga (Chlorophyta) that contains many bioactive compounds, of which polysaccharide is the main component. With the advancement of technology in the methods of extraction and analysis, recent studies in in vitro and animals model showed that polysaccharides derived from E. prolifera exert various biological activities, such as gut microbiota modulation, immunomodulation, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, and hypolipidemic. Research evidence has shown that methods of extraction and molecular modification, such as degradation, carboxymethylation, and sulfonation could alter the biological activities of polysaccharides. Therefore, in this review, we discussed the different extraction techniques, structural-activity relationship, and health benefits of sulfated polysaccharides derived from E. prolifera, and suggested future research avenues. This review helps to advance the extraction techniques and promote the application of marine algae polysaccharides as functional food and therapeutic agent.


Author(s):  
Dandan Shan ◽  
Hansong Yu ◽  
Lyu Bo ◽  
Hongling Fu

: Soybean has become an important world commodity because of its low price, good nutritional value and recognized functional health benefits in recent years. β-conglycinin is one of the major storage proteins in soybean. It has captured a growing interest recently because of its allergenicity and potential health benefits, which continues to drive the research and commercial development of β-conglycinin-based food products and ingredients. In this review, the structure, the amino acid composition, extraction methods and electrophoretic pattern of β-conglycinin are briefly summarized. Studies on β-conglycinin by allergenicity, plasma lipid-controlling, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are highlighted, critically discussing their main shortcomings and challenges and identifying the research gaps. Studies to date have demonstrated the cultivation of β-conglycinin with health benefits as functional ingredients and foodstuffs. The current research focuses on proteins, mainly challenging the mechanisms of subunit/peptide effects interaction and identifying and characterizing the hidden biological activities in the polypeptide chains. There is much scope for further exploration into various aspects of β-conglycinin, such as the selection of mutant strains and genetic engineering and prospects on targeted β-conglycinin exploitation in the nutraceutical area. In addition, the safety evaluation of β-conglycinin and its stabilized emulsions deserve more attention to food-related applications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizwana Khatoon ◽  
Md. Aftab Alam ◽  
Pramod Kumar Sharma

Aim: The purpose of this review paper is to elaborate many nano-formulations of Rosemary which are used against many diseases and also explain the Pharmacological activity of phytocompounds of Rosemary and details about the applications and uses of Rosemary in many fields. Objectives: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is a medicinal herbal plant, their leaves are used in Europe, America, and Asia as a food additive. It is very valuable, their parts contain many chemical constituents which are very effective against many diseases like diabetes, obesity, cancer, infections and also have antioxidant, anti-inflammation, memory-improvement, etc. properties. Results: In the literature reviewed, Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) has shown exciting potential both as a natural food preservative and as a therapeutic agent. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) essential oil has been extensively studied due to its chemical composition and biological activities. The extract of Rosemary also shows the medicinal properties like anticancer, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory etc. From many studies, it was also found that nano-formulation of Rosemary had been developed by using the Rosemary essential oil and its extract which are used in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Conclusion: From the conventional times, therapeutic effects of Rosemary are seen, which is also used in Modern Medicine now days. It had been used as food additives in the conventional times. In renal colic and dysmenorrhea, it is used as an antispasmodic to relieve respiratory disorders and to boost hair development. CNS, cardiac and locomotive activity promotes inhalation and oral administration of Rosemary oil, suggesting the direct effect of one or more of its constituents. Rosemary have curative potential in the therapy and avoidance of bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer, spasmodic disorders, inflammatory illnesses, atherosclerosis, hepatotoxicity, cancer, ischemic heart illness, bad sperm motility, Alzheimer, and may act as antidepressant and anxiolytic properties.


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