Biological Properties and Antioxidant Activity of Hawthorn Crataegus mexicana

Abstract

The traditional fruit in Mexico represent a great variety of species with nutritious properties and with a wide field of usage in traditional medicine. “Tejocote” (hawthorn) is a fruit with medicinal properties since pre-hispanic times due to its high content of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, minerals, oligomeric procianidines, triterpenes, carotenes, flavonoids, polysaccharides and catecholamines. Some of these compounds are used to treat cardiovascular diseases, as well as immune diseases and respiratory problems such as colds and cough, neurological problems, eye disease, reproductive organs disease, and in the liver and kidneys, since “tejocote” has citotoxic activity, gastro protective, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and anti-microbian. The current review is focused on the botanical features, ethnobotanical and phytochemical of the “tejocote” from the gender Crataegus mexicana, which is the variety grown and most consumed in our country. There are very few studies concerning its contents of metabolites, its potential use as anti-oxidant and its applications in order to treat some diseases.