Cyperus esculentus L. (Cyperaceae): Agronomic aspects, food applications, ethnomedicinal uses, biological activities, phytochemistry and toxicity

Highlights

• Cyperus esculentus interferes with the productivity of other crops.

• Cyperus esculentus is applied to foods of animal and plant origin.

• Cyperus esculentus is used in traditional medicine in many countries.

• The antioxidant activity of Cyperus esculentus has been widely reported.

• Cyperus esculentus presents phytochemicals of food and pharmaceutical interest.

Abstract

Cyperus esculentus L. (Cyperaceae) is considered a weed that negatively affects economically important crops. Phytochemical studies of C. esculentus indicate that this plant can be an important source of molecules with pharmacological and nutraceutical potential. Thus, the present study aimed to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature on the agronomic aspects, food applications, ethnomedical uses, biological activities, phytochemistry, and toxicity of C. esculentus. The scientific articles were retrieved from the Google Scholar, PubMed®, ScienceDirect® and SciELO databases. Only articles published between 1973 and 2022 were selected. According to the literature analyzed, C. esculentus negatively interferes with the yield of crops such as Zea mays L. and Oryza sativa L. The food potential of C. esculentus was evidenced in several studies, in which ingredients based on this plant were applied in foods of animal and vegetable origin. Regarding ethnomedicinal uses, C. esculentus is used in African, Asian and South American countries. The antioxidant (27%) and antimicrobial (13%) activities were well reported in the literature. A total of 61 chemical compounds belonging to the classes of phenolics and flavonoids (34%), fatty acids (33%), terpenes (31%) and alkaloid (2%) were included in this review. Cyperus esculentus extracts showed no toxicity in in vitro and in vivo assays, indicating that the products obtained from this plant are biologically safe. As it is a plant with food and medicinal uses, the performance of clinical trials of products obtained from C. esculentus is of great importance for commercialization by the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Introduction

The use of medicinal plants in the treatment of diseases is gaining more and more attention around the world (Clemen-Pascual et al., 2022). In this sense, plants are characterized as a permanent and valuable source of new biologically active agents (Bezerra et al., 2022a; Feitosa et al., 2022). Due to their availability, affordability, and most of the time safety, medicinal plants are still in use in many different countries (Ibourki et al., 2022). In general, medicinal plants are used as complements or substitutes for modern medical treatments, being an important aid for maintaining the health of local populations (Agidew, 2022; Saggar et al., 2022). Furthermore, the negative effects of synthetic drugs have required advances in the use of natural products for the prophylaxis, treatment and cure of various diseases (Noor et al., 2022).

Cyperaceae Juss. gathers some 5500 species distributed in 90 genera (Govaerts et al., 2007; Semmouri et al., 2019). It is considered a cosmopolitan family and plays a dominant role in wetland vegetation (Larridon et al., 2013). The genus Cyperus comprises more than 600 species mainly found in tropical and temperate regions of the world (Gifford and Bayer, 1995). Cyperus esculentus L., popularly known as “junça-amarela”, “tiririca-amarela”, “nutsedge”, “tiger nut” and “chufa”, is characterized by being a perennial plant with C₄ photosynthetic metabolism (Ren et al., 2021). Some authors believe that this species probably originated in the Mediterranean, Southwest Asia and East Africa (Follak et al., 2016; Costa Neto et al., 2018). Its tuberous and fast-growing habit allows it to overtake crop plants in fields, ornamental plants in flower beds, and native species in other areas (Manek et al., 2012). Thus, C. esculentus is known in some regions to be an emerging weed plant that is difficult to control in crops sown in spring (Scarabel et al., 2020).

Despite being considered an important weed that negatively affects agricultural productivity in Brazil (Panozzo et al., 2009; Westendorff et al., 2014; Brighenti and Oliveira, 2018), C. esculentus is widely cultivated and used for food purposes in Europe (Pascual et al., 2000) and in African countries such as Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Ghana, and Togo (Asare et al., 2020). Several ethnobotanical surveys have also reported its use for the treatment of health problems such as diabetes, tuberculosis, urolithiasis, malaria, stomachache, eye ache, sexual weakness, muscle diseases, and wounds by traditional communities in India (Khan and Yadava, 2010), Brazil (Sousa et al., 2011), Iraq (Mati and Boer, 2011), Benin (Yetein et al., 2013), Kenya (Kipkore et al., 2014), Mali (Diarra et al., 2015), Togo (Yaovi-Gameli et al., 2018), Morocco (Mohammed et al., 2021), and Nepal (Sigdel and Acharya, 2022).

In vitro and in vivo biological activities of extracts and other products obtained from C. esculentus have been often reported in the literature. Several studies indicate that this plant has antioxidant (Oloyede et al., 2014), antimicrobial (Jing et al., 2016), antidiabetic (Onyenibe and Udogadi, 2019), antidiarrheal (Shorinwa and Dambani, 2020), and anticancer (Nwosu et al., 2022) potential. Chemical compounds identified in the species belong to the classes of terpenes (Kubmarawa et al., 2005; Clemente-Villalba et al., 2021; Nwosu et al., 2022), fatty acids (Lopéz-Cortés et al., 2013; Adel et al., 2015; Bado et al., 2015; Slobodianiuk et al., 2021), phenolics and flavonoids (Owon et al., 2013; Vega-Morales et al., 2019; Hussein et al., 2021). The flavonoid orientin, for example, was isolated from leaves of C. esculentus and showed neuroprotective effects against ischemia-reperfusion-induced brain injury (Jing et al., 2020).

Considering the agronomic, nutritional, ethnomedicinal, pharmacological and phytochemical importance of this species, it is necessary to retrieve the scientific documents that address these topics through advanced research in databases and compile this information to assist in the development of future research. Thus, the present study aimed to carry out a comprehensive review of the agronomic aspects (morphology, cultivation, allelopathy, control and insecticidal potential), food applications, ethnomedical uses in various regions of the world, in vitro and in vivo biological activities, phytochemistry (chemical compounds of pharmacological and nutraceutical interest), toxicity, and biological safety of C. esculentus.