Flavonoids and Other Phenolic Compounds from Medicinal Plants for Pharmaceutical and Medical Aspects: An Overview

Phenolic compounds as well as flavonoids are well-known as antioxidant and many other important bioactive agents that have long been interested due to their benefits for human health, curing and preventing many diseases. This review attempts to demonstrate an overview of flavonoids and other phenolic compounds as the interesting alternative sources for pharmaceutical and medicinal applications. The examples of these phytochemicals from several medicinal plants are also illustrated, and their potential applications in pharmaceutical and medical aspects, especially for health promoting e.g., antioxidant effects, antibacterial effect, anti-cancer effect, cardioprotective effects, immune system promoting and anti-inflammatory effects, skin protective effect from UV radiation and so forth are highlighted.

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Health-Promoting Effects of Thymus Phenolic-Rich Extracts: Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory and Antitumoral Properties

Antioxidants ◽

10.3390/antiox9090814 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 814

Author(s):

Andrea F. Afonso ◽

Olívia R. Pereira ◽

Susana M. Cardoso

Keyword(s):

Phenolic Compounds ◽

Mediterranean Region ◽

The West ◽

Numerous Species ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

Growing Body ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Salvianolic Acids ◽

Anti Inflammatory

Thymus genus comprises numerous species that are particularly abundant in the West Mediterranean region. A growing body of evidence suggests that many of these species are a rich source of bioactive compounds, including phenolic compounds such as rosmarinic acid, salvianolic acids and luteolin glycosides, able to render them potential applications in a range of industrial fields. This review collects the most relevant studies focused on the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer of phenolic-rich extracts from Thymus plants, highlighting correlations made by the authors with respect to the main phenolic players in such activities.

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Kefir and Its Biological Activities

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10061210 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1210

Author(s):

Nor Farahin Azizi ◽

Muganti Rajah Kumar ◽

Swee Keong Yeap ◽

Janna Ong Abdullah ◽

Melati Khalid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Biological Activities ◽

Product Diversification ◽

Symbiotic Association ◽

Beverage Consumption ◽

Food Industries ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

Functional Beverages ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Fermented Beverage

Kefir is a fermented beverage with renowned probiotics that coexist in symbiotic association with other microorganisms in kefir grains. This beverage consumption is associated with a wide array of nutraceutical benefits, including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-diabetic, anti-hypertensive, and anti-hypercholesterolemic effects. Moreover, kefir can be adapted into different substrates which allow the production of new functional beverages to provide product diversification. Being safe and inexpensive, there is an immense global interest in kefir’s nutritional potential. Due to their promising benefits, kefir and kefir-like products have a great prospect for commercialization. This manuscript reviews the therapeutic aspects of kefir to date, and potential applications of kefir products in the health and food industries, along with the limitations. The literature reviewed here demonstrates that there is a growing demand for kefir as a functional food owing to a number of health-promoting properties.

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Pharmacological screening of medicinal plants for anti cancer, anti inflammatory and anti diabetic activities

Planta Medica ◽

10.1055/s-0032-1321049 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 78 (11) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M Yaseen ◽

S Bahaffi ◽

H Kigoshi ◽

M Kita

Keyword(s):

Medicinal Plants ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

Anti Inflammatory ◽

Pharmacological Screening

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Potential Pharmaceutical and Food Applications of Postbiotics: A Review

Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology ◽

10.2174/1389201021666200516154833 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (15) ◽

pp. 1576-1587 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aziz H. Rad ◽

Amin Abbasi ◽

Hossein S. Kafil ◽

Khudaverdi Ganbarov

Keyword(s):

Functional Foods ◽

Animal Health ◽

Pharmaceutical Formulations ◽

Live Cells ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Safe Product ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Food Applications ◽

Potential Alternative ◽

Bioactive Agents

In recent decades, functional foods with ingredients comprising probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics have been gaining a lot of attention from scientists. Probiotics and postbiotics are usually applied in pharmaceutical formulations and/or commercial food-based products. These bioactive agents can be associated with host eukaryotic cells and have a key role in maintaining and restoring host health. The review describes the concept of postbiotics, their quality control and potential applications in pharmaceutical formulations and commercial food-based products for health promotion, prevention of disease and complementary treatment. Despite the effectiveness of probiotic products, researchers have introduced the concept of postbiotic to optimize their beneficial effects as well as to meet the needs of consumers to provide a safe product. The finding of recent studies suggests that postbiotics might be appropriate alternative agents for live probiotic cells and can be applied in medical, veterinary and food practice to prevent and to treat some diseases, promote animal health status and develop functional foods. Presently scientific literature confirms that postbiotics, as potential alternative agents, may have superiority in terms of safety relative to their parent live cells, and due to their unique characteristics in terms of clinical, technological and economical aspects, can be applied as promising tools in the drug and food industry for developing health benefits, and therapeutic aims.

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A Review on Phytopharmaceutical shaving Concomitant Experimental Anti-Diabetic and Anti-Cancer Effects as Potential Sources for Targeted Therapies Against Insulin Mediated Breast Cancer Cell Invasion and Migration

Current Cancer Therapy Reviews ◽

10.2174/1573394716999200831113335 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Author(s):

Vibhavana Singh ◽

Rakesh Reddy ◽

Antarip Sinha ◽

Venkatesh Marturi ◽

Shravani Sripathi Panditharadyula ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Medicinal Plants ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Breast Cancer Cell ◽

Cell Invasion ◽

Breast Tumor ◽

Cancer Cell Invasion ◽

Invasion And Migration ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

And Migration

: Diabetes and breast cancer are pathophysiologically similar and clinically established diseases that co-exist with a wider complex similar molecular signalling and having similar set of risk factors. Insulin plays a pivotal role for invasion and migration of breast cancer cells. Several ethnopharmacological evidences light the concomitant anti-diabetic and anti-cancer activity of medicinal plant and phytochemicals against breast tumor of patients with diabetes. This present article reviewed the findings on medicinal plants and phytochemicals with concomitant anti-diabetic and anti-cancer effects reported in scientific literature to facilitate the development of dual-acting therapies against diabetes and breast cancer. The schematic tabular form of published literatures on medicinal plants (63 plants belongs to 45 families) concluded the dynamics of phytochemicals against diabetes and breast tumor that could be explored further for the discovery of therapies for controlling of breast cancer cell invasion and migration in patient with diabetes.

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Momordica balsamina L.: An Appraisal on Morphology, Ecological Diversity, Phytochemistry, Pharmacological and Biotechnological Applications

Current Traditional Medicine ◽

10.2174/2215083806999200909115721 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 06 ◽

Author(s):

Saheed Sabiu ◽

Christiana Eleojo Aruwa ◽

Viresh Mohanlall ◽

Himansu Baijnath

Keyword(s):

Relevant Information ◽

Perennial Herb ◽

Biotechnological Applications ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

Toxicological Data ◽

Human Disorders ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Baseline Information ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Bioactive Agents

Background: Momordica balsamina L. is a monoecious climbing vine and perennial herb native to the tropical regions of Asia, Arabia and the Caribbean, and with prominent presence in Nigeria, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Southern African provinces. While evidence of its anecdotal usage as medicine exist, scientific reports complementing the claims are still emerging or at their infancy. Objective: This review appraised the morphology, therapeutic and biotechnological significance of M. balsamina. Method: Online resources such as Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect and MeSH were utilized for literature search and included relevant information from inception till May 2020 to streamline sought outcomes for in-depth discussion. Results: The data gathered and considered worthy of inclusion in this study revealed that M. balsamina is rich in phytonutrients of medicinal significance with cucurbitane-type triterpenoids, balsamin and momordins well characterized and fully elucidated. These compounds and other novel bioactive agents in M. balsamina have found remarkable pharmacological relevance and could further be harnessed for use against several debilitating human disorders. Conclusion: The potential applications of M. balsamina as nutraceutical and pharmaceutical agent should not be undermined. Also, with the inadequate toxicological data on this wild species, its consumption should be with caution and translational studies that could advance scientific knowledge and aid better understanding of both its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics without sidelining its potent biotechnological applications are highly encouraged. It is hoped that this paper will provide baseline information that could serve as a guide and inspiration for further studies on the prospects of M. balsamina.

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The content of phenolic compounds in medicinal plants of a botanical garden (Kaliningrad oblast)

Biology Bulletin ◽

10.1134/s1062359013050105 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 133-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

P. V. Maslennikov ◽

G. N. Chupakhina ◽

L. N. Skrypnik

Keyword(s):

Phenolic Compounds ◽

Medicinal Plants ◽

Botanical Garden ◽

Kaliningrad Oblast

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Elaboration of Gluten-Free Cookies with Defatted Seed Flours: Effects on Technological, Nutritional, and Consumer Aspects

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods10061213 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 1213

Author(s):

Elena Martínez ◽

Rita García-Martínez ◽

Manuel Álvarez-Ortí ◽

Adrián Rabadán ◽

Arturo Pardo-Giménez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nutritional Value ◽

Nutritional Composition ◽

Elastic Behavior ◽

Gluten Free ◽

Free Products ◽

Consumer Evaluations ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Seed Flours ◽

Good Vehicle ◽

Interesting Alternative

Cookies, which form the largest category of bakery snacks, are considered a good vehicle to introduce nutrients into the diet. In this study, to increase the nutritional value of traditional commercial cookies, wheat flour was substituted with defatted flours made from flax, sesame, chia, and poppy, which are byproducts of the oil extraction industry. The differences in the technological properties, nutritional composition, and consumer acceptance of the reformulated cookies were evaluated. The results show that the wheat cookies used as the control showed a more elastic behavior than the cookies elaborated with defatted seed flours, which showed a greater tendency to crumble. The use of defatted seed flours yielded cookies with a higher content of protein and fiber, and a lower content in carbohydrates than the wheat cookies. Consumer evaluations for the sesame and flax cookies were similar to those for the traditional wheat cookies, with positive assessments on all of the parameters evaluated. On the other hand, the cookies elaborated using chia and poppy flours received the least positive evaluations from consumers. Thus, the use of some defatted seed flours, mainly flax and sesame, is proposed as an interesting alternative to produce health-promoting cookies in order to cover the current demand for gluten-free products.

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Tea as a Source of Biologically Active Compounds in the Human Diet

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26051487 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (5) ◽

pp. 1487

Author(s):

Joanna Klepacka ◽

Elżbieta Tońska ◽

Ryszard Rafałowski ◽

Marta Czarnowska-Kujawska ◽

Barbara Opara

Keyword(s):

Antioxidant Activity ◽

Phenolic Compounds ◽

Daily Intake ◽

The Body ◽

Biologically Active ◽

Sodium Potassium ◽

Tea Infusions ◽

Copper Manganese ◽

Health Promoting ◽

Average Consumption

Due to the different levels of bioactive compounds in tea reported in the literature, the aim of this study was to determine whether commercially available leaf teas could be an important source of phenolics and selected minerals (copper, manganese, iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium) and if the differences in the content of these components between various types of tea are significant. It was found that both the amount of these compounds in tea and the antioxidant activity of tea infusions were largely determined by the origin of tea leaves as well as the processing method, which can modify the content of the studied components up to several hundred-fold. The group of green teas was the best source of phenolic compounds (110.73 mg/100 mL) and magnesium (1885 µg/100 mL) and was also characterised by the highest antioxidant activity (59.02%). This type of tea is a great contributor to the daily intake of the studied components. The average consumption of green tea infusions, assumed to be 3–4 cups (1 L) a day, provides the body with health-promoting polyphenol levels significantly exceeding the recommended daily dose. Moreover, drinking one litre of an unfermented tea infusion provides more than three times the recommended daily intake of manganese. Tea infusions can be a fairly adequate, but only a supplementary, source of potassium, zinc, magnesium, and copper in the diet. Moreover, it could be concluded that the antioxidant activity of all the analysed types of tea infusions results not only from the high content of phenolic compounds and manganese but is also related to the presence of magnesium and potassium.

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