Lignans: a versatile source of anticancer drugs

Background

Cancer is considered as the second deadliest disease globally. Plants have continuously offered unique secondary metabolites with remarkable biological applications. Lignans have gained great importance due to their biological activity. Previous studies revealed that the most remarkable bioactivity of lignan class of molecules is anticancer. They are derived from the oxidative dimerization of two phenylpropanoid units. This review covers the isolated anticancer lignans and their mechanistic aspects.

Main body

A bibliographic investigation was performed by analyzing the information available on anticancer lignans in the internationally accepted scientific databases including Web of Science, SciFinder, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. In this review we have tried to sum up the isolated anticancerous lignan, its source, active plant part, extract and various cell lines used to establish different studies. Here we have included a total number of 113 natural lignans. Many studies that mainly performed in human cell lines have reported. Very few plants have been evaluated for their in vivo anticancer activity.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that in near future the lignans may be an effective pharmacon for the treatment of cancer. Fruitful areas of future research may be in modifying natural lignans or synthesizing new lignans with structural diversity and potent pharmacological activities. Extensive studies are needed to be done highlighting the mechanism of anticancer action of explored and unexplored plants. The data will definitely attract many researchers to start further experimentation that might lead to the drugs for the cancer treatment.

Graphical Abstract

Optimization of Pan Bread Prepared with Ramie Powder and Preservation of Optimized Pan Bread Treated by Gamma Irradiation during Storage

This study was conducted to develop an optimal composite recipe for pan bread with ramie powder that has high sensory approval with all age groups and to estimate the DPPH radical scavenging activity and the pan bread shelf life after gamma irradiation. The sensory evaluation results showed significant differences in flavor (p<0.05), appearance (p<0.01), color (p<0.01), moistness (p<0.01), and overall quality (p<0.05) based on the amount of ramie powder added. As a result, the optimum formulations by numerical and graphical methods were calculated to be as follows: ramie powder 2.76 g (0.92%) and water 184.7 mL. Optimized pan bread with ramie powder and white pan bread were irradiated with gamma-rays at doses of 0, 10, 15, and 20 kGy. The total bacterial growth increased with the longer storage time and the least amount of ramie powder added. Consequently, these results suggest that the addition of ramie powder to pan bread provides added value to the bread in terms of increased shelf life.