Plantas medicinais no tratamento de ansiedade e depressão: Uma revisão

Há uma grande diversidade de plantas no Brasil, e muitas delas, ao serem estudadas, apresentam elevado teor nutricional, presença de antioxidante, entre outras propriedades, podendo ter um potencial farmacológico significativo e consequentemente gerando aplicações em diversas áreas como saúde, cosmética e culinária. As plantas medicinais são usadas por grande parte da população mundial, como um recurso medicinal alternativo para o tratamento de diversas doenças, visto que em muitas comunidades, representam um recurso mais acessível em diversos sentidos em relação aos medicamentos alopáticos. Destaca-se a utilização das plantas medicinais para fins terapêuticos, em que muitas atividades biológicas conferidas às plantas foram demonstradas, dentre elas a ação no sistema nervoso central, sendo utilizadas para o tratamento e/ou prevenção de transtornos psicossociais como ansiedade e depressão. Sendo assim, o presente estudo tem como objetivo realizar uma revisão bibliográfica sobre as plantas medicinais mais utilizadas no tratamento da ansiedade e depressão. Verificou-se que nos tratamentos, as plantas medicinais e os fitoterápicos são vistos como uma alternativa viável para o tratamento dos quadros de ansiedade e depressão, visto que possuem menos efeitos colaterais. Sendo assim, a presente pesquisa revisou as espécies: Hypericum perforatum L.; Passiflora incarnata L.; Melissa Officinalis L.; Chamomilla recutita L.; Piper methysticum G.; Erythrina verna; Humulus lupulus L. e Crataegus oxyacantha L. Foi possível apresentar a efetividade de todas as espécies citadas, com as descrições encontradas em estudos da literatura.

Phytochemical Constituents, Biological Activities, and Health-Promoting Effects of the Melissa officinalis

Medicinal plants are being used worldwide for centuries for their beneficial properties. Some of the most popular medicinal plants belong to the Melissa genus, and different health beneficial effects have already been identified for this genus. Among these species, in particular, the Melissa officinalis L. has been reported as having many biological activities, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, antitumour, antiviral, antiallergic, anti-inflammatory, and also flatulence inhibiting effects. The beneficial properties of the Melissa officinalis, also known as “lemon balm herb”, can be related to the bioactive compounds such as terpenoids, alcohols, rosmarinic acid, and phenolic antioxidants which are present in the plant. In this updated review, the botanical, geographical, nutritional, phytochemical, and traditional medical aspects of M. officinalis have been considered as well as in vitro and in vivo and clinically proven therapeutic properties have been reviewed with a special focus on health-promoting effects and possible perspective nutraceutical applications. To evidence the relevance of this plant in the research and completely assess the context, a literature quantitative research analysis has been performed indicating the great interest towards this plant for its beneficial properties.

Effects of Melissa officinalis L. Essential Oil in Comparison with Anaesthetics on Gill Tissue Damage, liver metabolism and Immune Parameters in Sea Bass (Lateolabrax maculatus) during Simulated live Transport

In the current study, Melissa officinalis L. essential oil (MOEO), a novel sedative and anaesthetic, was employed in transport water to obtain a lower stress effect and higher survival rate for live marine fish. The effect of MOEO and various types of anaesthetics, administered at a low temperature on gill morphology, liver function and immunological parameters of living sea bass (Lateolabrax maculatus) subjected to transport stress, was evaluated to optimize the anaesthetic and sedative concentrations during live sea bass transport. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of sea bass, subjected to simulated live transport for 72 h, demonstrated that the changes in the morphological characteristics of gill tissue treated with 40 mg/L MOEO (A3 group) were minimal in comparison to those observed in untreated sea bass. The results of pyruvate kinase (PK), phosphofructokinase (PFK), hexokinase (HK), hepatic glycogen (Gly), superoxide dismutase (SOD), lipid peroxides (MDA) and Caspase-3 assays indicated that the glycolysis rate, energy consumption, lipid peroxidation and hepatocyte apoptosis were the lowest in the A3 group. The values of the two immune parameters, lysozyme (LZM) and fish immunoglobulin M (IgM), indicated the strongest immunity ability in the A3 group. After 12 h recovery, sea bass treated with 30 mg/L MS-222 (B group) displayed a 100% survival rate, sea bass treated with 20 mg/L (A2 group) and 40 mg/L (A3 group) MOEO displayed a 96% survival rate, sea bass treated with 20 mg/L eugenol (C group) had a 94% survival rate, and untreated sea bass (CK group) had a 50% survival rate. Therefore, the addition MOEO to the transport water had anaesthetic and sedative effects similar to MS-222 and eugenol. The results confirmed that the addition of MOEO to the transport water could reduce tissue damage, energy metabolism, and the oxidative stress response in sea bass during transport.

Development of enriced butter

At present the issues related to the prevention of diseases of the 20th century that arise with the development of human society and include external (infection, climate change, ecology) and internal (stressful situations, weakening of immunity, metabolic problems) reasons caused by the modern lifestyle are the topical issues of the world community. A characteristic feature of a modern person’s life is a constant lack of free time, inadequate sleep, a sedentary lifestyle and, most importantly, an unbalanced diet. Taking into account regular stress factors, there is an increased physiological need of the human body for micro- and macronutrients that come with food. The lack of these elements, along with increasing mental and physical stress, leads to poor health and occurrence of diseases. Butter is traditional food in an average person’s diet. Butter is a highly nutritious food product where milk fat is concentrated. Milk fat contains many valuable ingredients such as water, phospholipids, lactose and complete proteins. The development of butter enriched with vegetable fillers is a topical research area. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) has great prospects as a plant component. The aim of the research is to develop fortified butter. To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been formulated: to assess the effect of Melissa officinalis L. herbal additive on the organoleptic characteristics of the enriched butter; to conduct an experimental assessment of the quality characteristics of experimental samples of butter with Melissa officinalis L. as a fortified product; to determine changes in the quality characteristics of Melissa officinalis L. enriched butter during storage; to develop a recipe for enriched butter with Melissa officinalis L. herbal additive.

PASTILIŲ SU SAUSUOJU MELISŲ EKSTRAKTU MODELIAVIMAS IR KOKYBĖS VERTINIMAS

Natūralūs augaliniai ekstraktai vertinami dėl savo gydomųjų savybių visame pasaulyje. Vaistinės melisos (Melissa officinalis L.) ekstraktas pasižymi farmakologinio poveikio įvairove – uždegimo slopinamuoju, raminamuoju, antioksidaciniu. Aktualu pagaminti kietas farmacines formas – pastiles su sausuoju melisos ekstraktu, kurios užtikrintų vartotojams tinkamą naudojimą, nes pastilės pasižymi maloniu skoniu, o panaudojus pagalbines medžiagas, galima kokybiškai įterpti ekstraktą ir tinkamai ištirpinti veikliąsias medžiagas. Tyrimo tikslas – sumodeliuoti ir pagaminti pastiles su sausuoju melisos ekstraktu ir įvertinti jų kokybę. Buvo pagamintos 3 skirtingos pastilių serijos, naudojant skirtingas pagalbines medžiagas. Sumodeliuotos ir pagamintos pastilės su želatina, su kakava ir kakavos sviestu, su medumi. Įvertintos pagamintų pastilių masės vienodumo, išvaizdos vienodumo, skoninės ir juslinės savybės, atlikti pastilių suirimo ir tirpimo testai. Tirpimo testo in vitro metu buvo matuojamas bendrasis atsipalaidavęs fenolinių junginių bei galo rūgšties kiekis. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad pagamintos pastilės buvo tolygios masės, tinkamos išvaizdos, o naudojamos pagalbinės medžiagos turi įtakos fenolinių junginių ir galo rūgšties atsipalaidavimui in vitro.

Optimization of in vitro rooting and ex vitro adaptation conditions of Melissa officinalis L. microshoots during clonal micropropagation

Melissa officinalis L. is a perennial herbaceous essential and medicinal plant widely used in pharmacology, perfumery and cosmetics, as well as in alcoholic beverage and food industries. The low content of essential oil in lemon balm raw material determines the selection work aimed at creating high-oil cultivars. The use of clonal micropropagation method in vitro will increase the efficiency of this process and accelerate promising breeding samples multiplication. The aim of our research was to study the influence of cultivation conditions and cultivar on the M. officinalis in vitro rhizogenesis and ex vitro adaptation. It was found that the maximum frequency of shoot rooting (up to 93.3%) in cultivars ‘Citronella’ and ‘Sobornaya’ was on MS culture medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l NAA. The number of roots was 10.1 and 13.6 pcs. per shoot, respectively. The highest rates of root formation for the cv. ‘Crimchanka’ was found on a culture medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/l IAA (8.7 roots per shoot). The mixture of peat, sand and perlite (2:1:2) as a substrate provided up to 93% of adapted ex vitro lemon balm microplants. The presented studies were used to develop a technique for clonal micropropagation of M. officinalis.

A study on the nutritional characteristics of some plants and their effects on ruminal microbial fermentation and protozoa population

We designed this project to determine the nutritional potential and ruminal microbial fermentation properties of eight rangeland plants (Dracocephalum moldavica L., Melissa officinalis L., Ruta graveolens L., Perovskia abrotanoides Kar., Cichorium intybus L., Borago officinalis L., Peganum harmala L., and Teucrium polium L.) collected from the semi-arid region of Iran at two consecutive years (2019 and 2020) for ruminant diets. Medicago sativa as a common forage was also considered as control. We determined the chemical-mineral composition, buffering capacity, in vitro gas yield, ruminal fermentation, and protozoa population in a culture medium with the standard laboratory methods. A significant difference in chemical-mineral compounds was observed among the studied plants (p < 0.05). A lower crude protein range (6.28% for Cichorium intybus L. to 18.4% for Melissa officinalis L.) was observed rather than Medicago sativa (20.3%). The amount of calcium was highest in Peganum harmala L. (23.5–24.2 g/kg DM) and lowest in Ruta graveolens L. (1.15–1.25 g/kg DM). Dracocephalum moldavica L. exhibited the highest acid–base buffering capacity (235–242 mEq×10−3) among other plants. The highest decrease in total protozoa and other protozoan populations was observed when Perovskia abrotanoides Kar. was added to the culture medium. Teucrium Polium L. had the greatest potential gas yield and its total volatile fatty acid was comparable with Medicago sativa. It seems that eight plants are nutritionally suitable for partial replacement of the conventional plants such as Medicago sativa in diets of small ruminants, however dietary supplementation of Peganum harmala L. due to its alkaloids content should be done with caution.