Widely used throughout the world as traditional medicine for treating a variety of diseases ranging from cancer to microbial infections, members of the Tradescantia genus show promise as sources of desirable bioactive compounds. The bioactivity of several noteworthy species has been well-documented in scientific literature, but with nearly seventy-five species, there remains much to explore in this genus. This review aims to discuss all the bioactivity-related studies of Tradescantia plants and the compounds discovered, including their anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities. Gaps in knowledge will also be identified for future research opportunities.
This study aims to evaluate the bioactive components, in vitro bioactivities, and in vivo hypoglycemic effect of P. frutescens leaf, which is a traditional medicine-food homology plant. P. frutescens methanol crude extract and its fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol fractions, and aqueous phase residue) were prepared by ultrasound-enzyme assisted extraction and liquid-liquid extraction. Among the samples, the ethyl acetate fraction possessed the high total phenolic (440.48 μg GAE/mg DE) and flavonoid content (455.22 μg RE/mg DE), the best antioxidant activity (the DPPH radical, ABTS radical, and superoxide anion scavenging activity, and ferric reducing antioxidant power were 1.71, 1.14, 2.40, 1.29, and 2.4 times higher than that of control Vc, respectively), the most powerful α-glucosidase inhibitory ability with the IC50 value of 190.03 μg/mL which was 2.2-folds higher than control acarbose, the strongest proliferative inhibitory ability against MCF-7 and HepG2 cell with the IC50 values of 37.92 and 13.43 μg/mL, which were considerable with control cisplatin, as well as certain inhibition abilities on acetylcholinesterase and tyrosinase. HPLC analysis showed that the luteolin, rosmarinic acid, rutin, and catechin were the dominant components of the ethyl acetate fraction. Animal experiments further demonstrated that the ethyl acetate fraction could significantly decrease the serum glucose level, food, and water intake of streptozotocin-induced diabetic SD rats, increase the body weight, modulate their serum levels of TC, TG, HDL-C, and LDL-C, improve the histopathology and glycogen accumulation in liver and intestinal tissue. Taken together, P. frutescens leaf exhibits excellent hypoglycemic activity in vitro and in vivo, and could be exploited as a source of natural antidiabetic agent.
Edible Bird's Nest (EBN) is the most prized health delicacy among the Chinese population in the world. Although some scientific characterization and its bioactivities have been studied and researched, no lights have been shed on its actual composition or mechanism. The aim of this review paper is to address the advances of EBN as a therapeutic animal bioproduct, challenges and future perspectives of research involving EBN. The methodology of this review primarily involved a thorough search from the literature undertaken on Web of Science (WoS) using the keyword "edible bird nest". Other information were obtained from the field/market in Malaysia, one of the largest EBN-producing countries. This article collects and describes the publications related to EBN and its therapeutic with diverse functional values. EBN extracts display anti-aging effects, inhibition of influenza virus infection, alternative traditional medicine in athletes and cancer patients, corneal wound healing effects, stimulation of proliferation of human adipose-derived stem cells, potentiate of mitogenic response, epidermal growth factor-like activities, enhancement of bone strength and dermal thickness, eye care, neuroprotective and antioxidant effects. In-depth literature study based on scientific findings were carried out on EBN and its properties. More importantly, the future direction of EBN in research and development as health-promoting ingredients in food and the potential treatment of certain diseases have been outlined.
Honey has been conventionally consumed as food. However, its therapeutic properties have also gained much attention due to its application as a traditional medicine. Therapeutic properties of honey such as anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and wound healing have been widely reported. A number of interesting studies have reported the potential use of honey in the management of allergic diseases. Allergic diseases including anaphylaxis, asthma and atopic dermatitis (AD) are threatening around 20% of the world population. Although allergic reactions are somehow controllable with different drugs such as antihistamines, corticosteroids and mast cell stabilizers, modern dietary changes linked with allergic diseases have prompted studies to assess the preventive and therapeutic merits of dietary nutrients including honey. Many scientific evidences have shown that honey is able to relieve the pathological status and regulate the recruitment of inflammatory cells in cellular and animal models of allergic diseases. Clinically, a few studies demonstrated alleviation of allergic symptoms in patients after application or consumption of honey. Therefore, the objective of this mini review is to discuss the effectiveness of honey as a treatment or preventive approach for various allergic diseases. This mini review will provide insights into the potential use of honey in the management of allergic diseases in clinical settings.
Curcuma species (family: Zingiberaceae) are widely utilized in traditional medicine to treat diverse immune-related disorders. There have been many scientific studies on their immunomodulating effects to support their ethnopharmacological uses. In this review, the efficacy of six Curcuma species, namely, C. longa L., C. zanthorrhiza Roxb., C. mangga Valeton & Zijp, C. aeruginosa Roxb. C. zedoaria (Christm.) Roscoe, and C. amada Roxb., and their bioactive metabolites to modulate the immune system, their mechanistic effects, and their potential to be developed into effective and safe immunomodulatory agents are highlighted. Literature search has been carried out extensively to gather significant findings on immunomodulating activities of these plants. The immunomodulatory effects of Curcuma species were critically analyzed, and future research strategies and appropriate perspectives on the plants as source of new immunomodulators were discussed. Most of the pharmacological investigations to evaluate their immunomodulatory effects were in vivo and in vitro experiments on the crude extracts of the plants. The extracts were not chemically characterized or standardized. Of all the Curcuma species investigated, the immunomodulatory effects of C. longa were the most studied. Most of the bioactive metabolites responsible for the immunomodulating activities were not determined, and mechanistic studies to understand the underlying mechanisms were scanty. There are limited clinical studies to confirm their efficacy in human. Of all the bioactive metabolites, only curcumin is undergoing extensive clinical trials based on its anti-inflammatory properties and main use as an adjuvant for the treatment of cancer. More in-depth studies to understand the underlying mechanisms using experimental in vivo animal models of immune-related disorders and elaborate bioavailability, preclinical pharmacokinetics, and toxicity studies are required before clinical trials can be pursued for development into immunomodulatory agents.
The prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, food allergy and atopic dermatitis has increased dramatically in recent decades. Conventional therapies for allergy can induce undesirable effects and hence patients tend to seek alternative therapies like natural compounds. Considering the fact above, there is an urgency to discover potential medicinal plants as future candidates in the development of novel anti-allergic therapeutic agents. The Lamiaceae family, or mint family, is a diverse plant family which encompasses more than 7,000 species and with a cosmopolitan distribution. A number of species from this family has been widely employed as ethnomedicine against allergic inflammatory skin diseases and allergic asthma in traditional practices. Phytochemical analysis of the Lamiaceae family has reported the presence of flavonoids, flavones, flavanones, flavonoid glycosides, monoterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenoids, essential oil and fatty acids. Numerous investigations have highlighted the anti-allergic activities of Lamiaceae species with their active principles and crude extracts. Henceforth, this review has the ultimate aim of compiling the up-to-date (2018) findings of published scientific information about the anti-allergic activities of Lamiaceae species. In addition, the botanical features, medicinal uses, chemical constituents and toxicological studies of Lamiaceae species were also documented. The method employed for data collection in this review was mainly the exploration of the PubMed, Ovid and Scopus databases. Additional research studies were obtained from the reference lists of retrieved articles. This comprehensive summarization serves as a useful resource for a better understanding of Lamiaceae species. The anti-allergic mechanisms related to Lamiaceae species are also reviewed extensively which aids in future exploration of the anti-allergic potential of Lamiaceae species.
The use of anti-inflammatory natural products to treat inflammatory disorders for cancer prevention and therapy is an appealing area of interest in the last decades. Annona muricata L. is one of the many plant extracts that have been explored owing to their anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Different parts of A. muricata especially the leaves have been used for various ethnomedicinal purposes by traditional healers to treat several diseases including cancer, inflammation, diabetes, liver diseases, and abscesses. Some of these experience-based claims on the use of the plant have been transformed into evidence-based information by scientific investigations. The leaves of the plant have been extensively investigated for its diverse pharmacological aspects and found eminent for anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. However, most studies were not on the bioactive isolates which were responsible for the activities but were based on crude extracts of the plant. In this comprehensive review, all significant findings from previous investigations till date on the leaves of A. muricata, specifically on their anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities have been compiled. The toxicology of the plant which has been shown to be due to the presence of neurotoxic annaceous acetogenins and benzyltetrahydro-isoquinoline alkaloids has also been updated to provide recent information on its safety aspects. The present knowledge of the plant has been critically assessed, aimed at providing direction toward improving its prospect as a source of potential anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents. The analysis will provide a new path for ensuring research on this plant to discover new agents to treat inflammatory diseases and cancer. Further in vitro and in vivo studies should be carried out to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying their anti-inflammatory responses in relation to anticancer activity and more detail toxicity study to ensure they are safe for human consumption. Sufficient preclinical data and safety data generated will allow clinical trials to be pursued on this plant and its bioactive compounds.
Inventories of tropical forests have listed Annonaceae as one of the most diverse plant families. For centuries, it is employed in traditional medicines to cure various pathological conditions including snakebite, analgesic, astringent, diarrhea, dysentery, arthritis pain, rheumatism, neuralgia, and weight loss etc. Phytochemical analysis of Annonaceae family have reported the occurrence of alkaloids, flavonoids, triterpenes, diterpenes and diterpene flavone glycosides, sterols, lignans, and annonaceous acetogenin characteristically affiliated with Annonaceae sp. Numerous past studies have underlined the pleotropic pharmacological activities of the crude extracts and isolated compounds from Annonaceae species. This review is an effort to abridge the ethnobotany, morphology, phytochemistry, toxicity, and particularly focusing on the anti-inflammatory activity of the Annonaceae species.
Jaundice is a very common symptom especially in the developing countries. It is associated with several hepatic diseases which are still major causes of death. There are many different approaches to jaundice treatment and the growing number of ethnomedicinal studies shows the plant pharmacology as very promising direction. Many medicinal plants are used for the treatment of jaundice, however a comprehensive review on this subject has not been published. The use of medicinal plants in drug discovery is highly emphasized (based on their traditional and safe uses in different folk medicine systems from ancient times). Many sophisticated analytical techniques are emerging in the pharmaceutical field to validate and discover new biologically active chemical entities derived from plants. Here, we aim to classify and categorize medicinal plants relevant for the treatment of jaundice according to their origin, geographical location, and usage. Our search included various databases like Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar. Keywords and phrases used for these searches included: "jaundice," "hyperbilirubinemia," "serum glutamate," "bilirubin," "Ayurveda." The first part of the review focuses on the variety of medicinal plant used for the treatment of jaundice (a total of 207 medicinal plants). In the second part, possible mechanisms of action of biologically active secondary metabolites of plants from five families for jaundice treatment are discussed.
Edible and medicinal mushrooms are regularly used in natural medicines and home remedies since antiquity for ailments like fever, inflammation, and respiratory disorders. Lignosus rhinocerotis (Cooke) Ryvarden is a polypore found in Malaysia and other regions in South East Asia. It can be located on a spot where a tigress drips milk while feeding, hence the name "tiger's milk mushroom." The sclerotium of L. rhinocerotis is highly sought after by the native communities in Malaysia to stave off hunger, relieve cough and asthma, and provide stamina. The genomic features of L. rhinocerotis have been described. The pharmacological and toxicity effects, if any, of L. rhinocerotis sclerotium have been scientifically verified in recent years. In this review, the validated investigations including the cognitive function, neuroprotection, immune modulation, anti-asthmatic, anti-coagulation, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial/ anti-viral, anti-obesity, anti-cancer/ anti-tumor, and antioxidant properties are highlighted. These findings suggest that L. rhinocerotis can be considered as an alternative and natural medicine in the management of non-communicable diseases. However, there is a paucity of validation studies including human clinical trials of the mycochemicals of L. rhinocerotis.
A Central nervous system (CNS) disease is the one which affects either the spinal cord or brain and causing neurological or psychiatric complications. During the nineteenth century, modern medicines have occupied the therapy for many ailments and are widely used these days. Herbal medicines have often maintained popularity for historical and cultural reasons and also considered safer as they originate from natural sources. Embelin is a plant-based benzoquinone which is the major active constituent of the fruits of Embelia ribes Burm. It is an Indo-Malaysian species, extensively used in various traditional medicine systems for treating various diseases. Several natural products including quinone derivatives, which are considered to possess better safety and efficacy profile, are known for their CNS related activity. The bright orange hydroxybenzoquinone embelin-rich fruits of E. ribes have become popular in ethnomedicine. The present systematic review summarizes the effects of embelin on central nervous system and related diseases. A PRISMA model for systematic review was utilized for search. Various electronic databases such as Pubmed, Springer, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar were searched between January 2000 and February 2016. Based on the search criteria for the literature, 13 qualified articles were selected and discussed in this review. The results of the report showed that there is a lack of translational research and not a single study was found in human. This report gives embelin a further way to be explored in clinical trials for its safety and efficacy.
Cassia alata or locally known as Ketepeng Cina (Indonesia) and Gelenggang (Malaysia) has been used as a traditional medicine to treat various diseases, especially skin diseases. In addition, C. alata has been reported to have potential anti allergic, anti inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, and antifungal. Metabolite compounds that have been isolated from C. alata include flavones, flavonols, flavonoids glycosides, alatinon, alanonal and β-sitosterol-β-D-glucoside. The compounds have been isolated mainly from the leaves. Further identification is needed to discover the secondary metabolites from other parts of the plant such as seed, flower and bark which are reported to have potent antibacterial and antifungal activity. Therefore, this article highlights the secondary metabolites and biological activity of this plant which has been shown to have pharmacological properties against selected diseases.
Wound care is constantly evolving with the advances in medicine. Search for the ideal dressing material still continues as wound care professionals are faced with several challenges. Due to the emergence of multi-resistant organisms and a decrease in newer antibiotics, wound care professionals have revisited the ancient healing methods by using traditional and alternative medicine in wound management. People's perception towards traditional medicine has also changed and is very encouraging. The concept of moist wound healing has been well accepted and traditional medicine has also incorporated this method to fasten the healing process. Several studies using herbal and traditional medicine from different continents have been documented in wound care management. Honey has been used extensively in wound care practice with excellent results. Recent scientific evidences and clinical trials conducted using traditional and alternative medicine in wound therapy holds good promise in the future.
Henna plant (Lawsonia inermis) is an Indian medicinal plant used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases, besides its popularity as a natural dye to colour hand and hair. Research in the recent past has accumulated enormous evidence revealing henna plant to be an excellent source of antioxidants such as total phenolics. In this study, the extraction of total phenolics from henna stems was evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. A set of single factor experiments was carried out for identifying the optimum condition of each independent variable affecting total phenolic content (TPC) extraction efficiency of henna stems, namely the solvent type, solvent concentration (v/v, %), extraction time (min) and extraction temperature (oC). Generally, high extraction yield was obtained using aqueous acetone (about 40%) as solvent and the extraction yield could further be increased using a prolonged time of 270 min and a higher incubation temperature of 55°C. Under these optimized conditions, the experimental maximum yield of TPC of 5554.15 ± 73.04 mg GAE/100 g DW was obtained.
Diseases such as diabetes mellitus and gout are among the chronic diseases affecting worldwide population. Investigation is required to find the alternative approaches to treat these chronic diseases, such as plant based medicine. In this study, lemongrass (Cymbopogan citratus) was chosen and examined on the basis of their usage in traditional medicines throughout Southeast Asia. GCMS analysis revealed the major constituents of the lemongrass essential oil which compromise 67.769% and 67.328% of the total oil respectively. Total phenolic content of the essential oil was analyzed by Folin Ciocalteau method and the results indicated that highest amount of phenolic content was obtained from essential oil extracted from lemongrasses stalk, with phenolic concentration of 2100.769 mg/l GAE. Anti oxidant activity was examined by DPPH scavenging test and the highest inhibition was obtained by essential oil extracted from lemongrass stalk (89.5%). β-glucosidase inhibition assay was carried out using an in-vitro model for anti diabetic test and lemongrass stalk essential oil showed highest degree of inhibitory activity (89.63%). Anti gout test was examined by xanthine oxidase inhibition (XOI) assay with the maximum percentage of xanthine oxidase inhibition of 81.34% obtained from lemongrass stalk essential oil.
The use of herbal preparations remained the main approach of folk medicine to the treatment of ailments and debilitating diseases. Initial intensive researches conducted on Lemongrass extracts (tea) may have showed conflicting evidences, however the resurgence in claims of folk medicine practitioners necessitated further inquiry into the efficacy of the tea. Lemongrass tea contains several biocompounds in its decoction, infusion and essential oil extracts. Anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-obesity, antinociceptive, anxiolytic and antihypertensive evidences of lemongrass tea were clearly elucidated to support initial pharmacological claims. Lemongrass tea was non-toxic, non-mutagenic and receives wide acceptance among alternative medicine practitioners in several developing countries. This review therefore presents previous research activities, technologies and information surrounding bioactivities of lemongrass tea. Areas of future researches which may elucidate mechanisms of the biological properties of lemongrass extracts were highlighted.
Murraya paniculata (Linn) Jack (Orange Jasmine), known as "Kemuning Putih" in Malaysia, has been widely used as food flavor additive in cuisine by local residences. This is due to the strong fragrances of the leaves which make it suitable to be used in Indian and Malay dishes. Besides as a flavoring, leaves, branches, stem barks and roots of the plant are used in folk medicine to treat dysentery and morning sickness. Flowers of the plants are used in cosmetics. Since 1970’s, flavonoids and coumarins were isolated from Murraya paniculata, but no further bioactivity has been tested from the isolated compounds. The aim of this paper is to review and update the research related to chemical constituents and bioactivities of Murraya paniculata (L) Jack.
Momordica charantia, also known as bitter melon or ‘peria katak’ in Malaysia, is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. Bitter melon is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals that made it extensively nutritious. Moreover, the seed, fruit and leave of the plant contain bioactive compounds with a wide range of biological activities that have been used in traditional medicines in the treatment of several diseases, including inflammation, infections, obesity and diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in urinary metabolite profile of the normal, streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes and M. charantia treated diabetic rats using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) -based metabolomics profiling. Study had been carried out by inducing diabetes in the rats through injection of streptozotocin, which exhibited type 1 diabetes. M. charantia extract (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight) was administrated to the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats for one week. Blood glucose level after administration was measured to examine hypoglycemic effect of the extract. The results obtained indicated that M. charantia was effective in lowering blood glucose level of the diabetic rats. The loading plot of Partial Least Square (PLS) component 1 showed that diabetic rats had increased levels of lactate and glucose in urine whereas normal and the extract treated diabetic rats had higher levels of succinate, creatine, creatinine, urea and phenylacetylglycine in urine. While the loading plot of PLS component 2 showed a higher levels of succinate, citrate, creatine, creatinine, sugars, and hippurate in urine of normal rat compared to the extract treated diabetic rat. Administration of M. charantia extract was found to be able to regulate the altered metabolic processes. Thus, it could be potentially used to treat the diabetic patients.