Blackthorn-A Valuable Source of Phenolic Antioxidants with Potential Health Benefits

Prunus spinosa L. fruit, commonly known as blackthorn, is a rich source of bioactive compounds, including flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, vitamins, minerals, and organic acids, which exhibit significant antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Notably, flavonoids such as catechin, epicatechin, and rutin have been reported to have protective effects against diabetes, while other flavonoids, including myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol, exhibit antihypertensive activity. Solvent extraction methods are widely used for the extraction of phenolic compounds from plant sources, owing to their simplicity, efficacy, and broad applicability. Furthermore, modern extraction techniques, such as microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), have been employed to extract polyphenols from Prunus spinosa L. fruits. This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the biologically active compounds found in blackthorn fruits, emphasizing their direct physiological effects on the human body. Additionally, the manuscript highlights the potential applications of blackthorn fruits in various industries, including the food, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and functional product sectors.

The Genus Alternanthera: Phytochemical and Ethnopharmacological Perspectives

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The genus Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae) comprises 139 species including 14 species used traditionally for the treatment of various ailments such as hypertension, pain, inflammation, diabetes, cancer, microbial and mental disorders.

Aim of the review: To search research gaps through critical assessment of pharmacological activities not performed to validate traditional claims of various species of Alternanthera. This review will aid natural product researchers in identifying Alternanthera species with therapeutic potential for future investigation.

Materials and methods: Scattered raw data on ethnopharmacological, morphological, phytochemical, pharmacological, toxicological, and clinical studies of various species of the genus Alternanthera have been compiled utilizing search engines like SciFinder, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Open J-Gate for 100 years up to April 2021.

Results: Few species of Alternanthera genus have been exhaustively investigated phytochemically, and about 129 chemical constituents related to different classes such as flavonoids, steroids, saponins, alkaloids, triterpenoids, glycosides, and phenolic compounds have been isolated from 9 species. Anticancer, antioxidant, antibacterial, CNS depressive, antidiabetic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulator effects have been explored in the twelve species of the genus. A toxicity study has been conducted on 3 species and a clinical study on 2 species.

Conclusions: The available literature on pharmacological studies of Alternanthera species reveals that few species have been selected based on ethnobotanical surveys for scientific validation of their traditional claims. But most of these studies have been conducted on uncharacterized and non-standardized crude extracts. A roadmap of research needs to be developed for the isolation of new bioactive compounds from Alternanthera species, which can emerge out as clinically potential medicines.

Determination of Phenolic Compounds Using HPLC-UV Method in Wild Fruit Species

Plant parts of some spontaneous fruit species were analyzed by HPLC-UV method to determine their content in phenolic compounds. Buds, leaves, flowers, and fruits were harvested from 11 wild fruit species of medicinal, food, and therapeutic interest: European crab apple, European wild pear, blackthorn, dog rose, elder, dewberry, wild blackberry, cornelian cherry, red hawthorn, black hawthorn, and green strawberry. The studied species were analyzed for the presence and amount of phenolic compounds: flavonoids from the subclasses flavanols (catechin hydrate and epicatechin) and flavonols (rutin, myricetin, quercetin, and kaempferol) together with phenolic acids belonging to the hydroxybenzoic acid subclass (ellagic, gallic, syringic, vanillic, and salicylic) and hydroxycinnamic acids (caffeic, ferulic, sinapic, p-coumaric, neochlorogenic, and chlorogenic). The obtained results confirm the presence of bioactive compounds in different plant parts in wild fruit species. The variability identified from one species to another, the different compositions of phenols within the species, provides useful data on the role of these plant parts in the human body.