Phytobioactive compounds as therapeutic agents for human diseases: A review

Abstract

Phytobioactive compounds are plant secondary metabolites and bioactive compounds abundantly present in medicinal plants and have remarkable therapeutic potential. Oxidative stress and antibiotic resistance are major causes of present‐day ailments such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disorders, cancer, and inflammation. The data for this review were collected from Google Scholar, PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and Science Direct by using keywords: “Medicinal plants, Phytobioactive compounds, Polyphenols, Alkaloids, Carotenoids etc.” Several studies have reported the pharmacological and therapeutic potential of the phytobioactives. Polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenes, and polysaccharides isolated from medicinal plants showed remarkable antioxidant, anticancer, cytotoxic, anti‐inflammatory, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, immunomodulatory, neuroprotective, and antidiabetic activities. This literature review was planned to provide comprehensive insight into the biopharmacological and therapeutic potential of phytobioactive compounds. The techniques used for the extraction and isolation of phytobioactive compounds, and bioassays required for their biological activities such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti‐inflammatory, and cytotoxic activities, have been discussed. Characterization techniques for the structural elucidation of phytobioactive compounds such as HPLC, TLC, FTIR, GC–MS/MS, and NMR have also been discussed. This review concludes that phytobioactive compounds may be used as potential alternative to synthetic compounds as therapeutic agents for the treatment of various diseases.

An In vitro and in silico investigation of the antitrypanosomal activities of the stem bark extracts of Anopyxis klaineana (Pierre) Engl

“…Results from our analysis indicated the presence of a variety of secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids and tannins in the stem bark of A. klaineana as depicted in Table 1 . Alkaloids are diverse phytochemicals with wide different biological activities including antimicrobial, antiviral, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant [ 63 , 64 ]. Alkaloids have been demonstrated to have anti-trypanosomal properties [ 65 ].…”

Bibliometric and visualized analysis of resveratrol in anticancer investigations

“…Polyphenols, alkaloids, and terpenoids exhibit promising therapeutic potential in addressing conditions such as cancer, oxidative stress, inflammation, ulcers, diabetes, platelet aggregation, microbial resistance, and tumors (Riaz et al., 2023 ). Stilbenes are considered important metabolically active polyphenols (Shazmeen et al., 2021 ).…”

Paclitaxel and its semi-synthetic derivatives: comprehensive insights into chemical structure, mechanisms of action, and anticancer properties

“…Medicinal plants contain secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, flavones, anthocyanins, lignans, coumarins, and catechins. These bioactive molecules are responsible for the high levels of antioxidants in medicinal plants [ 6 , 7 ]. Research on herbal treatments has shifted nowadays due to expensive synthetic drugs and their side effects.…”