Biflavonoid compounds of Selaginella Pal. Beauv. and its benefit

Abstract

In the present day, medicinal plants increasingly play important role in human health, while about 60-75% of world population depending on plants and their extracts for medication. Selaginella Pal. Beauv. (Selaginellaceae Reichb.) is a potent medicinal plant source. This plant contains biflavonoid compounds, a dimeric form of flavonoids. Flavonoids are secondary metabolite that is most used in medical purposes. They are often occurred in daily consumed vegetables and fruits. Chemical constituents of flavonoids are very diverse, because they are generated in many biosynthetic methods. There are many biflavonoid compounds of Selaginella, i.e. amentoflavone, 2',8''-biapigenin, ginkgetin, heveaflavone, hinokiflavone, isocryptomerine, kayaflavone, podocarpusflavone A, robustaflavone, sumaflavone, and taiwaniaflavone. For the plants, these biflavonoid are used to response environmental condition such as defense against pests, diseases, herbivory, and competitions; while for the people, these compounds are used as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti cancer, antimicrobial (antivirus, antibacterial, anti fungal, antiprotozoan), neuroprotective, vasorelaxant, anti UV-irradiation, antispasmodic, anti allergic, antihaemorrhagic, antinociceptive, etc. The antioxidant purpose of biflavonoid is the most important activities of this secondary metabolite. It is related to the anti cancer and anti-inflammatory functions. The antioxidant of biflavonoid is more powerful than β-carotene, vitamin C and E. In the future, Selaginella research exhaustively needs to be conducted on morphological and molecular characteristics. It deeply needs to explore on biflavonoid and other natural products constituents, and it also needs to search on their bioactivities.

The Indian Magical Herb: ‘Sanjeevni’ Selaginella Bryopteris

“…The main secondary metabolite of this herb is biflavonoid, whose type is various depending on the species [8]. These compounds act as antioxidants, anti-stress, antiinflammatory, anti-cancer, antiallergic, antimicrobial, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, antiprotozoan, anti UV-irradiation, antispasmodic, vasorelaxant, heart boosters, antihypertensive, anti-clotting, and affect the metabolism enzymes [9] evaluate the antimicrobial, phytochemical, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) activity of the S. bryopteris used in folkoric medicine compared to all test showed significant activity against tested microorganism like Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis.…”

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“…The herb contains a variety of secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds such as alkaloids, phenol (flavonoids, tannins, saponins), and terpenoids (triterpene, steroid). The main secondary metabolite of this herb is biflavonoid, whose type is various depending on the species 25 .…”

Review: Recent status of Selaginella (Selaginellaceae) research in Nusantara

“…Biflavonoid which has been identified from Selaginella is only 13 compounds and/or its derivatives, namely amentoflavone, 2',8''-biapigenin, delicatulaflavone, ginkgetin, heveaflavone, hinokiflavone, isocryptomerine, kayaflavone, ochnaflavone, podocarpusflavone A, robustaflavone, sumaflavone, and taiwaniaflavone (Setyawan and Darusman 2008;Setyawan 2011). Some biflavonoid are easily found at various species of Selaginella, but the other only found at certain species.…”

“…Part to be used is entire plant, though it only refers to leaf or herb (Setyawan and Darusman 2008;Setyawan 2009). The usage can be conducted single or combination, fresh or dried, direct eaten or boiled (Dalimartha 1999;Wijayakusuma 2004).…”

“…In West Java, Sundanese at Mount Halimun-Salak NP, West Java use several S. ornata, S. wildenowii, S. involvens, and S. intermedia to cure wound, postpartum, menstrual disorder, and tonic (Nasution, 1993;Harada et al 2002;Setyawan and Darusman 2008). S. plana leaves is drunk in decoction as tonic for treatment postpartum (Harada et al 2002).…”