scholarly journals Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice): A Comprehensive Review on Its Phytochemistry, Biological Activities, Clinical Evidence and Toxicology

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2751
Author(s):  
Shadma Wahab ◽  
Sivakumar Annadurai ◽  
Shahabe Saquib Abullais ◽  
Gotam Das ◽  
Wasim Ahmad ◽  
...  

There are more than 30 species of Glycyrrhiza genus extensively spread worldwide. It was the most prescribed herb in Ancient Egyptian, Roman, Greek, East China, and the West from the Former Han era. There are various beneficial effects of licorice root extracts, such as treating throat infections, tuberculosis, respiratory, liver diseases, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immunodeficiency. On the other hand, traditional medicines are getting the attraction to treat many diseases. Therefore, it is vital to screen the medicinal plants to find the potential of new compounds to treat chronic diseases such as respiratory, cardiovascular, anticancer, hepatoprotective, etc. This work comprehensively reviews ethnopharmacological uses, phytochemistry, biological activities, clinical evidence, and the toxicology of licorice, which will serve as a resource for future clinical and fundamental studies. An attempt has been made to establish the pharmacological effect of licorice in different diseases. In addition, the focus of this review article is on the molecular mechanism of licorice extracts and their four flavonoids (isoliquiritigenin, liquiritigenin, lichalocone, and glabridin) pharmacologic activities. Licorice could be a natural alternative for current therapy to exterminate new emerging disorders with mild side effects. This review will provide systematic insights into this ancient drug for further development and clinical use.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohit S. Verma ◽  
Michael J. Fink ◽  
Gabriel L Salmon ◽  
Nadine Fornelos ◽  
Takahiro E. Ohara ◽  
...  

Two biological activities of butyrate in the colon (suppression of proliferation of colonic epithelial stem cells and inflammation) correlate with inhibition of histone deacetylases. Cellular and biochemical studies of molecules similar in structure to butyrate, but different in molecular details (functional groups, chain-length, deuteration, oxidation level, fluorination, or degree of unsaturation) demonstrated that these activities were sensitive to molecular structure, and were compatible with the hypothesis that butyrate acts by binding to the Zn<sup>2+</sup> in the catalytic site of histone deacetylases. Structure-activity relationships drawn from a set of 36 compounds offer a starting point for the design of new compounds targeting the inhibition of histone deacetylases. The observation that butyrate was more potent than other short-chain fatty acids is compatible with the hypothesis that crypts evolved (at least in part), to separate stem cells at the base of crypts from butyrate produced by commensal bacteria.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 636-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Pokorny ◽  
Lucie Borkova ◽  
Milan Urban

Triterpenoids are natural compounds with a large variety of biological activities such as anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparazitic, antiinflammatory and others. Despite their low toxicity and simple availability from the natural resources, their clinical use is still severely limited by their higher IC50 and worse pharmacological properties than in the currently used therapeutics. This fact encouraged a number of researchers to develop new terpenic derivatives more suitable for the potential clinical use. This review summarizes a new approach to improve both, the activity and ADME-Tox properties by connecting active terpenes to another modifying molecules using click reactions. Within the past few years, this synthetic approach was well explored yielding a lot of great improvements of the parent compounds along with some less successful attempts. A large quantity of the new compounds presented here are superior in both activity and ADME-Tox properties to their parents. This review should serve the researchers who need to promote their hit triterpenic structures towards their clinical use and it is intended as a guide for the chemical synthesis of better drug candidates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 784-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harish C. Upadhyay

The plants have formed the basis of folklore remedy since the beginning of human civilization. The cumulative human endeavor and experience over a period of thousands of years developed into well to organize traditional medicine systems viz. Ayurvedic, Unani, Chinese amongst others. Across the world, traditional medicine is either the mainstay of health care or serves as a complement to modern drugs. In view of worldwide use of traditional medicines, World Health Organization launched ‘WHO-Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023’ for the development of strong policies regarding knowledge-base, safety, quality-control and effectiveness of traditional/alternative therapeutics for national health systems. Besides their use in traditional medicine, plants have always been a good source of modern drug/pharmacologically active molecules. More than half of the modern pharmaceuticals are either plant isolates or their derivatives. The plant-based drugs are not only effective, but have better compatibility with human biological systems because of more biologically relevant chemistry, hence lesser side effects. Some of the species of genus Ammannia (Lythraceae) have been reported for their magical medicinal values. Many herbal formulations containing Ammannia spp. have been patented for treatment of serious diseases/disorders like cancer, spinal disease, human female infertility, chronic tonsillitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, treatment of bladder stones, urinary tract infections, dermatitis etc. The uses of Ammannia spp. in traditional medicine have been further verified by the biological activities of their extracts as well as isolation of bioactive phytomolecules. The current review provides details about Ammannia spp.; its use in folklore remedy, herbal formulations, biological activities of extracts, isolation of bioactive phytomolecules and SAR study of semi-synthetic derivatives to analyze the possibility of new drug molecules of plant origin.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zehra Tuğçe Gür ◽  
Fatma Sezer Şenol ◽  
Suhaib Shekfeh ◽  
İlkay Erdoğan Orhan ◽  
Erden Banoğlu ◽  
...  

Background: A series of novel cinnamic acid piperazine amide derivatives has been designed and synthesized, and their biological activities were also evaluated as potential tyrosinase inhibitors. Methods: Compounds 9, 11 and 17 showed the most potent biological activity (IC50 = 66.5, 61.1 and 66 &#181;M, respectively). In silico docking simulation was performed to position compound 11 into the Agaricus bisporus mushroom tyrosinase’s active site to determine the putative binding interactions. Results and Conclusion: The results indicated that compound 11 could serve as a promising lead compound for further development of potent tyrosinase inhibitors.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 454-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyoti ◽  
Divya Dheer ◽  
Davinder Singh ◽  
Gulshan Kumar ◽  
Manvika Karnatak ◽  
...  

Background: Thymol is a natural phenolic monoterpenoid widely used in pharmaceutical and food preservative applications. Thymol isomeric with carvacrol, extracted primarily from Thymus species (Trachyspermum ammi) and other plants sources such as Baccharisgrise bachii and Centipeda minima, has ethnopharmacological characteristics. <p></p> Methods: This review was prepared by analyzing articles published on thymol moiety in last decade and selected from Science Direct, Scopus, Pub Med, Web of Science and SciFinder. The selected articles are classified and gives brief introduction about thymol and its isolation, illustrates its natural as well as synthetic sources, and also therapeutic benefits of thymol worldwide <p></p> Results: Thymol has been covering different endeavors such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiarrhoeal, anthelmintic, analgesic, digestive, abortifacient, antihypertensive, spermicidal, depigmenting, antileishmanial, anticholinesterase, insecticidal and many others. This phenolic compound is among the essential scaffolds for medicinal chemists to synthesize more bio-active molecules by further derivatization of the thymol moiety. <p></p> Conclusion: Thymol is an interesting scaffold due to its different activities and derivatization of thymol is proved to enhance its biological activities. However, more robust, randomised, controlled clinical trials would be desirable with well-characterised thymol preparations to corroborate its beneficial effects in diseased patients. Moreover, in view of the potential use of thymol and thymol-rich essential oils in the treatment of human infections, comprehensive studies on chronic and acute toxicity and also teratogenicity are to be recommended.


2020 ◽  
Vol 06 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faiq H. S. Hussain ◽  
Hawraz Ibrahim M. Amin ◽  
Dinesh kumar Patel ◽  
Omji Porwal

: The family Iridaceae contains 92 genera and more than 1800 species, mostly perennial herbs with underground storage organs called rhizomes (bulbs). Some genera are important in traditional medicines, especially Iris and Gladiolus. The genus Iris belongs to this family and comprises about hundreds species among them, 12 species are found in Iraq. It has been widely used various medicines worldwide especially Iris persica is used in folk medicine in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as an effective treatment against tumours, antibacterial, antifungal and treating inflammation. Earlier finding confirmed that Iris persica and its constituents play role in the scavenging of free radical generation and prevention of disease pathogenesis. Each part of the Iris persica herb has some medicinal property. This review gives a eagle eye view mainly on the biological activities of the Iris persica and some of their compounds isolated, pharmacological actions of the Iris persica extracts and products, and plausible medicinal and therapeutically applications.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1306
Author(s):  
Marcin Dziedziński ◽  
Joanna Kobus-Cisowska ◽  
Barbara Stachowiak

The pine (Pinus L.) is the largest and most heteromorphic plant genus of the pine family (Pinaceae Lindl.), which grows almost exclusively in the northern hemisphere. The demand for plant-based remedies, supplements and functional food is growing worldwide. Although pine-based products are widely available in many parts of the world, they are almost absent as food ingredients. The literature shows the beneficial effects of pine preparations on human health. Despite the wide geographical distribution of pine trees in the natural environment, there are very few data in the literature on the widespread use of pine in food technology. This study aims to present, characterise and evaluate the content of phytochemicals in pine trees, including shoots, bark and conifer needles, as well as to summarise the available data on their health-promoting and functional properties, and the potential of their use in food and the pharmaceutical industry to support health. Various species of pine tree contain different compositions of bioactive compounds. Regardless of the solvent, method, pine species and plant part used, all pine extracts contain a high number of polyphenols. Pine tree extracts exhibit several described biological activities that may be beneficial to human health. The available examples of the application of pine elements in food are promising. The reuse of residual pine elements is still limited compared to its potential. In this case, it is necessary to conduct more research to find and develop new products and applications of pine residues and by-products.


Horticulturae ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Bety W. Hapsari ◽  
Manikharda ◽  
Widiastuti Setyaningsih

Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.), as an edible flower, has long provided an array of positive effects on human health. This benefit is a result of phenolic compounds that are naturally present mainly in the calyx. Plentiful medicinal remedies and functional foods based on this flower are available worldwide, as supported by the studies of phenolic compounds in recent decades. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the composition, biological activity, and beneficial effects on human health of phenolic compounds in roselle. This review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A structured search in the published literature for phenolics compositions in roselle was required prior to the evaluation on the validity of the reported analytical methods. Reliable identification and quantification of phenolic compounds in roselle can be achieved by employing the proper extraction and separation methods. With ample alternative analytical methods discussed here, this review provided an aid for comprehending and selecting the most appropriate method for a particular study. The applications of the analytical methods highlighted indicated that phenolic acids, flavonoids, and their derivatives have been identified and quantified in roselle with a range of biological activities and beneficial effects on human health. It was also disclosed that the composition and concentration of phenolic compounds in roselle vary due to the growth factors, cultivars, and environmental influence. Finally, apart from the research progress carried out with roselle during the last ten years, this review also proposed relevant future works.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
Vivek Saurabh ◽  
Maharishi Tomar ◽  
Muzaffar Hasan ◽  
Sushil Changan ◽  
...  

Mangifera indica L. belongs to the family of Anacardiaceae and is an important fruit from South and Southeast Asia. India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and the Philippines are among the top mango producer countries. Leaves of the mango plant have been studied for their health benefits, which are attributed to a plethora of phytochemicals such as mangiferin, followed by phenolic acids, benzophenones, and other antioxidants such as flavonoids, ascorbic acid, carotenoids, and tocopherols. The extracts from mango leaves (MLs) have been studied for their biological activities, including anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-obesity, lipid-lowering, hepato-protection, and anti-diarrheal. In the present review, we have elaborated on the nutritional and phytochemical profile of the MLs. Further, various bioactivities of the ML extracts are also critically discussed. Considering the phytochemical profile and beneficial effects of the MLs, they can be used as a potential ingredient for the development of functional foods and pharmaceutical drugs. However, more detailed clinical trials still needed to be conducted for establishing the actual efficacy of the ML extracts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 541
Author(s):  
Lúcia P. S. Pimenta ◽  
Dhionne C. Gomes ◽  
Patrícia G. Cardoso ◽  
Jacqueline A. Takahashi

Filamentous fungi are known to biosynthesize an extraordinary range of azaphilones pigments with structural diversity and advantages over vegetal-derived colored natural products such agile and simple cultivation in the lab, acceptance of low-cost substrates, speed yield improvement, and ease of downstream processing. Modern genetic engineering allows industrial production, providing pigments with higher thermostability, water-solubility, and promising bioactivities combined with ecological functions. This review, covering the literature from 2020 onwards, focuses on the state-of-the-art of azaphilone dyes, the global market scenario, new compounds isolated in the period with respective biological activities, and biosynthetic pathways. Furthermore, we discussed the innovations of azaphilone cultivation and extraction techniques, as well as in yield improvement and scale-up. Potential applications in the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and textile industries were also explored.


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