Okra (Abelmoschus Esculentus) as a Potential Dietary Medicine with Nutraceutical Importance for Sustainable Health Applications

Abstract

Recently, there has been a paradigm shift from conventional therapies to relatively safer phytotherapies. This divergence is crucial for the management of various chronic diseases. Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is a popular vegetable crop with good nutritional significance, along with certain therapeutic values, which makes it a potential candidate in the use of a variety of nutraceuticals. Different parts of the okra fruit (mucilage, seed, and pods) contain certain important bioactive components, which confer its medicinal properties. The phytochemicals of okra have been studied for their potential therapeutic activities on various chronic diseases, such as type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular, and digestive diseases, as well as the antifatigue effect, liver detoxification, antibacterial, and chemo-preventive activities. Moreover, okra mucilage has been widely used in medicinal applications such as a plasma replacement or blood volume expanders. Overall, okra is considered to be an easily available, low-cost vegetable crop with various nutritional values and potential health benefits. Despite several reports about its therapeutic benefits and potential nutraceutical significance, there is a dearth of research on the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of okra, which has hampered its widespread use in the nutraceutical industry. This review summarizes the available literature on the bioactive composition of okra and its potential nutraceutical significance. It will also provide a platform for further research on the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of okra for its possible commercial production as a therapeutic agent against various chronic diseases.

Development and Characterization of Novel Biopolymer Derived from Abelmoschus esculentus L. Extract and Its Antidiabetic Potential

“…Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench is a popular vegetable crop cultivated throughout the world mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The cultivation of okra vegetable is globally known for its palatability [1]. Okra plant and its derived products have been studied for various therapeutic purposes, such as antidiabetic, antioxidant, anticancer, immunomodulatory potentials, as well as its ability to ease constipation [1].…”

“…The cultivation of okra vegetable is globally known for its palatability [1]. Okra plant and its derived products have been studied for various therapeutic purposes, such as antidiabetic, antioxidant, anticancer, immunomodulatory potentials, as well as its ability to ease constipation [1]. Currently, the mucilage or latex present in okra has drawn attention of the scientific community for its application as an intervention for new therapeutic purposes, as the infusion of okra mucilage has been earlier used in traditional Indian ethnomedicine for treating dysentery, diarrhea, and many more [2].…”

“…The bioactive components present in plants and plants derived products such as alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, gum, carbohydrates, triterpenes, and different types of peptides are usually responsible for their therapeutic importance [18][19][20][21]. Recently, okra has been recognized for its potential therapeutic purposes due to the presence of various important phytochemicals including polysaccharides [1,22]. Therefore, despite having various therapeutic applications of okra fruits, seeds, pods, its mucilage has not been much explored toward its promising potential.…”

Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) as a Potential Functional Food Source of Mucilage and Bioactive Compounds with Technological Applications and Health Benefits

“…Despite the low-fat content (0.19 g/100 g) and energy (33 kcal/100 g equivalent to 138 kJ/100 g) of okra fruits [ 24 ], their seeds contain unsaturated fatty acids, such as linoleic acid, that are essential for human nutrition [ 5 , 25 ]. These seeds are also rich in α-tocopherol and have high levels of minerals, including Ca, K, Cu, Fe, P, Mg, Zn, and Mn [ 26 , 27 ].…”

Preparation of Alcoholic Beverages by Tribal Communities in the Indian Himalayan Region: A Review on Traditional and Ethnic Consideration

“…The health benefits of Saccharomyces sp., Lactobacillus, and Bacillus are recently well documented and considered as potential probiotic candidates. Studies on the genes responsible for the probiotic properties have been performed on the starter cultures and fermented foods to document the role of microbes in probiotic properties in ethnic foods (Das and Pandey, 2007;Kumari et al, 2016;Syed et al, 2020;Elkhalifa et al, 2021). Microorganisms present in these starter cultures are also known to be responsible for suppressing pathogenic population, carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, etc.…”