Recent advances in therapeutic chalcones

An Overview on Cardamonin

“…Although chalcones were first synthetized in the laboratory in the end of the XIX century, 3 it is still a topic of research nowadays. In general, they are synthetized by acid or base catalyzed Claisen-Schmidt condensation (Fig.…”

“…19 Of course, naturally occurring synthesis is chemically more complex and involves several enzymes. 3,20 The initial product is phenylalanine transformed to cinnamic acid by phenyl ammonium-lyase (EC 4.3.1.24), and then, in several steps where malonyl-CoA plays a major role, a hydroxylated chalcone is obtained (Fig. 3B); quite commonly, the chalcone can be transformed into the corresponding flavanone by a chalcone isomerase.…”

“…21 The first isolation of naturally occurring chalcones was done in 1910. 3 Chalcones are mainly found in the petal pigments, but have been found as well in the heartwood, bark, leaf, fruit, and root of many plant species. 3 Cardamonin's name comes from the fact that it can be found in cardamom spice (Fig.…”

“…3 Chalcones are mainly found in the petal pigments, but have been found as well in the heartwood, bark, leaf, fruit, and root of many plant species. 3 Cardamonin's name comes from the fact that it can be found in cardamom spice (Fig. 4), but since the first article where it was described, 22 it has been found in many other (some of them edible) plant species, such as Alpinia blepharocalyx, 23,24 Alpinia gagnepainii, 25 Alpinia conchigera, 26,27 Alpinia hainanensis, [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] Alpinia malaccensis, 41 Alpinia mutica, 42,43 Alpinia pricei, 44 Alpinia rafflesiana, [45][46][47][48] Alpinia speciosa, 22,49,50 Amomum subulatum, 51 Artemisia absinthium, 52 Boesenbergia pandurata, [53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60] Boesenbergia rotunda, 61,62 Carya cathayensis, …”

“…This group of aromatic enones (1,3-diphenyl-2-propenone core structure) belongs to the flavonoid family and is often responsible for the yellow pigmentation of plants. [1][2][3] In fact, the name chalcones comes from the classic Greek word chalkos, ''vakjó 2,'' which means copper/bronze. However, and of course, the scientific community's interest is beyond a matter of color and mostly aims at the promising cancer chemopreventive properties as well as other remarkable bioactive characteristics like the antioxidant and antibacterial potential.…”