Abstract
Members of the Prosopis genus are native to America, Africa and Asia, and have long been used in traditional medicine. The Prosopis species most commonly used for medicinal purposes are P. africana, P. alba, P. cineraria, P. farcta, P. glandulosa, P. juliflora, P. nigra, P. ruscifolia and P. spicigera, which are highly effective in asthma, birth/postpartum pains, callouses, conjunctivitis, diabetes, diarrhea, expectorant, fever, flu, lactation, liver infection, malaria, otitis, pains, pediculosis, rheumatism, scabies, skin inflammations, spasm, stomach ache, bladder and pancreas stone removal. Flour, syrup, and beverages from Prosopis pods have also been potentially used for foods and food supplement formulation in many regions of the world. In addition, various in vitro and in vivo studies have revealed interesting antiplasmodial, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic and wound healing effects. The phytochemical composition of Prosopis plants, namely their content of C-glycosyl flavones (such as schaftoside, isoschaftoside, vicenin II, vitexin and isovitexin) has been increasingly correlated with the observed biological effects. Thus, given the literature reports, Prosopis plants have positive impact on the human diet and general health. In this sense, the present review provides an in-depth overview of the literature data regarding Prosopis plants’ chemical composition, pharmacological and food applications, covering from pre-clinical data to upcoming clinical studies.
Highlights
Medicinal plants have been used since the beginning of human civilization to treat various diseases.Different properties have been discovered for each plant, due to many researchers’ focus on plants as a natural resource for treating human health [1,2]
Recent ethnopharmacological studies have shown that P. africana, P. alba, P. cineraria, P. farcta, P. glandulosa, P. juliflora, P. nigra, P. ruscifolia and P. spicigera are amongst the most commonly used
Ethanolic extracts of roots and leaves of the species were evaluated, and the results revealed that microencapsulated leaves ethanolic extract, leaf ethanolic extract and albendazole (2.0 mg/mL dose) displayed 100% inhibition of egg hatchability
Summary
Medicinal plants have been used since the beginning of human civilization to treat various diseases. The Prosopis genus belongs to the Fabaceae or Leguminosae family, and includes about 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs. This genus is found in both subtropical and tropical areas of the world. The paste, gum, and leaves and pods smoke of Prosopis plants possess various bioactive properties, such as anticancer, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antioxidant effects [6,7,8]. These effects have been increasingly correlated with their content in phytoconstituents, namely flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, quinones and phenolics. Given the above highlighted aspects, the aim of this review is to provide an in-depth overview of the literature data on the biological activities of the Prosopis genus, and to present its potential benefits and applications in both the pharmaceutical and food industries
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