Plantago media L.-Explored and Potential Applications of an Underutilized Plant.

Radu Claudiu Fierascu,Alina Ortan,Irina Fierascu,Alina Paunescu

doi:10.3390/plants10020265

Abstract

The search of valuable natural compounds should be directed towards alternative vegetal resources, and to the re-discovery of underutilized plants. Belonging to the Plantaginaceae family, the hoary plantain (Plantago media L.) represents one of the lesser studied species from the Plantago genus. The literature study revealed the under-utilization of the hoary plantain, a surprising aspect, considering its widespread. If the composition of Plantago media L. is rather well established, its applications are not nearly studied as for other Plantago species. The goal of the present paper is to summarize the findings regarding the applications of P. media, and, having as starting point the applications of related species, to propose new emerging areas of research, such as the biomedical applications validation through in vivo assays, and the evaluation of its potential towards industrial applications (i.e., development of food or personal care products), pisciculture or zootechny, phytoremediation and other environmental protection applications, or in the nanotechnology area (materials phytosynthesis). The present work constitutes not only a brief presentation of this plant’s present and potential applications, but also an invitation to research groups world-wide to explore the available vegetal resources.

Highlights

Accompanying the development of human civilization, plants were commonly used as food, feed or for empirical medicinal purposes [1]
Hydroalcoholic (80% methanol) extract of P. media showed inhibition activity of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2 ) and thromboxane (TXA2 ) eicosanoids production at low-dose concentration, supporting future investigation of the species as a potential anti-inflammatory agent
The literature study revealed the under-utilization of the hoary plantain, a surprising aspect, considering its widespread

Summary

Introduction

Accompanying the development of human civilization, plants were commonly used as food, feed or for empirical medicinal purposes [1]. The last decades led to the resurrection of alternative, plant-based medicine [3], together with a search of alternative, “bio” products [4], as well as the discovery of new potential applications of the vegetal materials [5]. With the identification of commercially valuable phytochemicals, the vegetal resources could become the subject of over-harvesting, producing environmental or ecological imbalances [6]. This could be avoided by continuously searching for alternative vegetal resources, and by the re-discovery of underutilized plants

Objectives

Results

Conclusion