A Comprehensive Review on the Medicinal Plants from the Genus Asphodelus

Abstract

Free PMC Article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5874609/Abstract: Plant-based systems continue to play an essential role in healthcare, and their use by different cultures has been extensively documented. Asphodelus L. (Asphodelaceae) is a genus of 18 species and of a total of 27 species, sub-species and varieties, distributed along the Mediterranean basin, and has been traditionally used for treating several diseases particularly associated with inflammatory and infectious skin disorders. The present study aimed to provide a general review of the available literature on ethnomedical, phytochemical, and biological data related to the genus Asphodelus as a potential source of new compounds with biological activity. Considering phytochemical studies, 1,8-dihydroxyanthracene derivatives, flavonoids, phenolic acids and triterpenoids were the main classes of compounds identified in roots, leaf and seeds which were correlated with their biological activities as anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory or antioxidant agents.The authors wish to thank the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for financial support of iMed.ULisboa project (UID/DTP/04138/2013) as well as a doctoral fellowship granted to the first author (SFRH/BD/125310/2016). This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (FCT), in Portugal, having no role in the data collection and analysis, interpretation of the findings, preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio