Phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity of Cnidoscolus chayamansa and Cnidoscolus aconitifolius: A review

Abstract

Research into ancient cultures has yielded a large body of evidence on the use of medicinal plants for preventive and/or therapeutic purposes. Such plants may have many metabolic activities and functions in the body-antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, platelet aggregation inhibitory and immunological and they can act at different molecular levels. This work offers a comprehensive review of research into the phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity of a plant used since the pre-Columbian era, native to southeast Mexico, commonly known as "chaya". The most prevalent phytochemicals in this plant are its phenolic compounds, and their antioxidant capacity is responsible for many of its health benefits, specifically in controlling chronic diseases. In the chaya leaf, there is a general trend toward the presence of different phenolic groups, such as coumarin, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, anthraquinones and flobotanins in aqueous and alcoholic extracts. Aside from environmental factors, there are differences in the ways samples are treated before the extraction process, such as the treatment type and the drying conditions. There are also differences in the solvents used and in the methods of extraction and concentration of compounds. Finally, a diversity of techniques is used, and even the data are quantified and expressed differently. Chaya has great potential for production as food and as a medicinal plant, but much more research is needed on the composition of its leaf and the biological effects of its components.

Cnidoscolus aconitifolius leaf pellet can manipulate rumen fermentation characteristics and nutrient degradability

“…Nevertheless, the amino acid profile of CHYP used under this experiment was similar to those reported by other researchers [37,38,40]. Amino acid profiles were similar with CHYP supplementation.…”

“…Furthermore, chaya contained good profile of amino acids both essential and non-essential especially methionine, lysine, tryptophan and phenylalanine etc. [37,38,40].…”

Protective effect of methanol leaf extract of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius against lipopolysaccharides-induced cortico-hippocampal neuroinflammation, oxidative stress and memory impairment

“…Among natural substances, polyphenol-derived medicinal substances have been proven to be important therapeutic agents capable of slowing or preventing neurological disorders (Dajas et al 2003;Scapagnini et al 2011;Badshah et al 2015;Jung et al 2017;Ali et al 2018). Phenolic compounds have been shown to be the most prevalent phytochemicals in Cnidoscolus aconitifolius, and the antioxidant capacity of these phenolic compounds is responsible for most of the health benefits of the plant, particularly in controlling chronic diseases (Kuri-García et al 2017). It has also been stated that the ingestion of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius will improve memory and brain function (Jensen 1997).…”

“…The phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacity which is responsible for most of its health benefits, particularly in controlling chronic diseases are the most prevalent phytochemicals in Cnidoscolus aconitifolius. (Kuri-García et al 2017). Cnidoscolus aconitifolius contains flavonoids and vitamins C and E (Akah and Okafor 1992;Ong et al 2011), and it has been documented to be an effective anti-inflammatory agent (Onasanwo et al 2011).…”

Caracterización fenólica y capacidad antioxidante de extractos alcohólicos de hojas crudas y hervidas de Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Euphorbiaceae)

“…This cyanogenic glycoside is easily removed using boiling water (González-Laredo et al, 2003), although this thermal treatment could modify the content of phenolic and antioxidant compounds. There is little published research on the phenolic composition of C. aconitifolius, nor are there any comparative analyses of the phenolic composition of hydroalcoholic extracts from raw and boiled leaves (Kuri-García et al, 2017).…”