Alkamides: Multifunctional Bioactive Agents in Spilanthes spp.

Abstract

Plant bioactives have always been a source of many valuable medicines. Alkamides are a class of pseudoalkalloidbioactives that are distributed among 33 medicinal plant families including Asteraceae (Compositeae). Genus SpilanthesofAsteraceae family is a storehouse of various potent alkamides. Spilanthol is considered as a key compound with its maximum concentration in the flower heads. Alkamides are pungent in taste and show analgesic and anaesthetic properties. These have been reported to exhibit significant larvicidal/insecticidal, antimicrobial, aphrodisiac, antimutagenic, anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing pharmacological activities. Also, transdermal and transmucosalbehaviour of spilanthol has been well documented. Therefore, alkamide content make this genus a promising medicinal plant with several biological and pharmacological activities. Thus, this review presents an overview of different alkamides in Spilanthes with an emphasis on their properties, distribution, pharmacological aspects and mode of administration.

An Efficient Method for the Genetic Transformation of Acmella oleracea L. (Spilanthes acmella Linn.) with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

“…Among the alkylamides, spilanthol ((E, E, Z)-2,6,8-decatrienoic acid N-isobutylamide) is considered to be the most potent bioactive compound found in A. oleracea . First identified by Gerber in 1903 as identical to affinin 1, spilanthol has been mostly found in Acmella flowers, leaves, and stems [ 4 , 7 , 8 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], but also in roots [ 17 , 18 ], and its accumulation in in vitro cell cultures has been documented [ 2 , 3 ]. Due to its pharmacological importance, based on a series of effects typical of alkylamides, such as analgesic, neuroprotective, antioxidant, antimutagenic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-larvicidal, and insecticidal activities [ 19 ], many protocols for spilanthol production and extraction have been developed (see [ 19 ] for a review; [ 20 ]).…”