Exploring wild Aspleniaceae ferns as safety sources of polyphenols: The case of Asplenium trichomanes L. and Ceterach officinarum Willd.

Abstract

The forest ecosystem is a source of material resources used since ancient times by mankind. Ferns are part of different oriental systems of traditional medicine due to the phytochemical variety of their fronds, which have allowed their traditional use to be validated through ethnopharmacological studies. In Europe, different cultures have used the same fern with a wide variety of applications due to its presence in most European forests. In recent years, studies on the phytocharacterization and biological activity of the fronds of the main European ferns have been published. In this study, the presence of polyphenolic phytochemicals has been evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) in the fronds of two wild ferns together with in vitro activities in non-tumoral and human tumoral cell lines. The polyphenols were extracted from Asplenium trichomanes L. and Ceterach officinarum Willd. by cold maceration using methanol. The main phytochemicals of polyphenolic origin in the extracts of A. trichomanes and C. officinarum determined by HPLC-MS/MS were the flavonol hyperoside and the phenolic acid chlorogenic acid, respectively. This different polyphenolic nature of both extracts contributes to the divergence of the behavior experienced in the biological activities tested, but none of the extracts showed a cytotoxic or phototoxic profile in the different tested cell lines. However, the cytoprotective values in front of the H2O2 oxidative stress induced in the 3T3 and HaCaT cell lines position these extracts as possible candidates for future health applications.

Kidney Stone Prevention: Is There a Role for Complementary and Alternative Medicine?

“…The cedracca is a small fern native to the Eurasian continent that grows in regions with a mild climate, but it is also widespread in Italy; it grows on stone and brick walls as well as between rocks. This plant contains phytochemicals of polyphenolic origin, such as flavonol hyperoside and the phenolic acid chlorogenic acid [ 35 ]. The latter seems to be responsible for the litholytic action of Ceterach.…”

New data on distribution and habitats of medicinal fern taxa in Slavonia

“…Utvrđeno je da metanolni ekstrakti svojti A. trichomanes, C. officinarum i P. vulgare uništavaju stanice različitih tipova raka bez izražene toksičnosti za ostale stanice, odnosno da se navedene svojte mogu koristiti kao izvor antioksidansa s farmaceutskom primjenom (Farràs et al, 2021(Farràs et al, , 2022. Na temelju navedenog, u budućnosti se očekuju intenzivnija istraživanja i početak primjene ekstrakata ljekovitih svojti papratnjača u svrhe liječenja, ali i češće sakupljanje i iskorištavanje samoniklih svojti papratnjača i njihovih dijelova za osobne potrebe.…”