Elsevier

Industrial Crops and Products

Volume 105, 15 October 2017, Pages 164-192
Industrial Crops and Products

Review article
The ethnobotanical, phytochemical and pharmacological properties and medicinal applications of essential oils and extracts of different Ziziphora species

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2017.05.009Get rights and content

Highlights

  • The Ziziphora genus (Lamiaceae) involves a large number of herbal species.

  • Essential oils (EOs), volatiles and extracts of Ziziphora exhibit diverse profiles.

  • Oils of Ziziphora are mainly consisted of oxygenated monoterpenes (pulegone).

  • This review is based on a comprehensive survey in Scopus database.

  • Folkloric uses and biological properties of the Ziziphora species are discussed.

Abstract

This review was undertaken because of the lack of a comprehensive review on the compositions of secondary metabolites, extracts and volatiles of Ziziphora species and of the biological activities of these materials. The Lamiaceae or Labiatae family comprises a large number of flowering plants of widespread distribution, which have been classified into some 236 genera and 6900–7200 species. The genus Ziziphora is one of the well-known genera of this large family of plants and its species are of prime importance in different fields of pharmaceutical, chemical, medicinal, traditional and folk medicines. This review is concerned with characterization of chemical profiles of essential oils, extracts and volatiles, along with relevant biological and phytochemical properties of a wide spectrum of plants in this genus over the 46-year period, 1970–2016. These reports demonstrate the significant impact of these herbal and medicinal plants for the treatment of a variety of diseases and as effective alternative options for chemical drugs which sometimes have unpleasant side effects.

Introduction

Many plants are naturally rich sources of essential oils (EOs) or secondary metabolites. Plants cultivated or grown wild in tropical, temperate and warmer zones of the earth planet are assumed to have the highest levels of EOs. Volatile EOs generally have a pungent odor, a pale yellowish color and a density lower than that of water (Mohammadhosseini et al., 2013). Due to its low polarity, an EO generally has a restricted miscibility in polar organic solvents and is much more soluble in non-polar solvents, e.g. n-hexane and other aliphatic alkanes. EOs are often accumulated in different secretory glands and the trichomes of plants and can be separated through some classical and advanced approaches (Sefidkon, 2007). Traditional methods for oil isolation mainly involve hydrodistillation (HD) and steam distillation (SD) which have been widely used for many years (Mohammadhosseini, 2016). An extract can be defined as the substance removed from a raw plant material by an extracting solvent. In botanical industries, plant extracts are usually sold either as tinctures or in powder form (for non-volatile extractives). Compared with EOs, plant extracts are always more stable and less sensitive to oxygen. Also, the total shelf-life of an extract is usually higher than that of an EO. Moreover, plant extracts are frequently free of unpleasant change in nature of the constituents under thermal artifacts (Mohammadhosseini, 2016). Since the overall yield of an isolated EO is usually low, the traditional HD method often requires higher amounts of foliage samples. In addition, this method may cause unwanted thermal changes during the extraction process. Additionally, using HD, there is the possibility of oxidation of compounds due to the longer extraction times. On the other hand, steam distillation (SD) can overcome some problems encountered in HD method (Ormeno et al., 2011, Mohammadhosseini et al., 2017a). In fact, compared with the HD approach, SD shows some superiority, including shorter extraction times, lower levels of oxidation and chemical changes of natural compounds, less energy use and a lower probability of losing more polar compounds. However, as with HD, SD extraction yields are often low.

On the other hand, microwave-based methodologies have been shown to be environmentally-friendly and effective approaches for isolation of EOs from a large number of herbal and medicinal plants (Mohammadhosseini et al., 2016d). Notably, microwave assisted extraction (MAE) strategies offer significant advantages, including saving of time and energy, applicability to smaller samples, and lower temperatures. Accordingly, microwave assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD) (Mohammadhosseini et al., 2016b, Nekoei and Mohammadhosseini, 2016), solvent free microwave extraction (SFME) (Mohammadhosseini, 2015, Mohammadhosseini et al., 2015), as well as microwave hydrodiffusion and gravity (MHG) (Chemat and Cravotto, 2013) have recently been used successfully for separation of EOs.

Although Šmejkal et al. (2016) have recently reviewed the bioactive compounds present in various Ziziphora species growing in the Kazakhstan region, the current review endeavors to cover all published papers on Ziziphora species since 1970. This paper includes categorization of EOs, extracts and volatiles, folkloric usage and biological characteristics of Ziziphora species throughout the world during this period.

Section snippets

Research method

To obtain information about folkloric and pharmaceutical uses, phytochemical properties and biological activities of Ziziphora species, all scientific databases were systematically reviewed. The main data were obtained using the Scopus database on 20 October 2016 and revisited on 12–15 January 2017 under the heading “Ziziphora”. In addition, some Persian references were considered specifically when discussing traditional Persian folk medicine from plants belonging to the genus Ziziphora.

History of herbal remedies worldwide: an emphasis on Ziziphora species

According to numerous archaeological investigations, plant fossils found in different parts of the world belong to plants growing about 2.3 million years ago (Beikmohammadi, 2011). In fact, plants are one of the ubiquitous parts of the lifecycle providing enough micronutrients and vitamins and maintain crucial metabolisms for human body. Researchers have approved promising remedial influences of local drugs with plant origins more specifically because of the noxious impacts of some synthesized

Conclusion

In the traditional folk medicines of many countries, Ziziphora species have been extensively prescribed to overcome some severe diseases. In fact, remedial influences of these plants have been noted through the centuries in the treatments of cold, fever, inflammation, intestinal disorders, insomnia, hemorrhage and cardiovascular malfunctions. These sedative and carminative herbs are often used as infusion, decoction, tincture and aqueous extracts. This review describes the chemical profiles of

Acknowledgment

The financial support of the Islamic Azad University, Shahrood Branch (grant number IAU-571k), is gratefully acknowledged.

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