Abstract
The genus Cephalaria, belonging to the Caprifoliaceae family, is a rich source of interesting secondary metabolites, including mainly saponins which display a variety of biological activities, such as immunomodulatory, antimicrobial and hemolytic effects. Besides these compounds, flavonoids and phenolic acids were identified in Cephalaria species. Cephalaria is employed in traditional medicine e.g., to cure cardiac and lung diseases, rheumatism, and regulate menstruation. In this review we focus on the phenolic compound composition and antioxidative activity of Cephalaria species. The antioxidant effect can be explained by flavonoids present in all parts of these plants. However, future efforts should concentrate more on in vitro and in vivo studies and also on clinical trials in order to confirm the possibility of using these plants as natural antioxidants for the pharmacology, food or cosmetic industries.
Highlights
Composition and AntioxidantPhenolic compounds are plentiful and ubiquitous secondary metabolites of plants [1]of great interest due to the fact that they are capable of preventing many diseases due to their antioxidant potential [2]
Literature studies have shown that the Cephalaria species contain flavonoids [17,36,37], triterpenoid saponins [36,38,39,40], iridoids [36,37,40], alkaloids [37,41,42,43], lignans [37,44], fatty acids [45,46], that exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, hemolytic, and immunomodulating activities [3,18,27,31,41,42]
The investigations of Cephalaria species have led to the isolation and identification phenolic acids and different types of flavonoids, represented mostly by flavanone, flavonols, flavones, and anthocyanins
Summary
Phenolic compounds are plentiful and ubiquitous secondary metabolites of plants [1]. of great interest due to the fact that they are capable of preventing many diseases due to their antioxidant potential [2]. Extracts from various species of Cephalaria have been used in traditional medicine for many years due to their antimicrobial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antioxidant, antidiabetic and hypothermic activities [27,28,29,30,31]. These plants are used in folk medicine to cure cardiac and lung diseases, rheumatism, and regulate menstruation [32,33]. Literature studies have shown that the Cephalaria species contain flavonoids [17,36,37], triterpenoid saponins [36,38,39,40], iridoids [36,37,40], alkaloids [37,41,42,43], lignans [37,44], fatty acids [45,46], that exhibit antioxidant, antimicrobial, cytotoxic, hemolytic, and immunomodulating activities [3,18,27,31,41,42]
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