Rhamnus alaternus Plant: Extraction of Bioactive Fractions and Evaluation of Their Pharmacological and Phytochemical Properties

Abstract

Rhamnus alaternus, is a wild-growing shrub, belonging to the Rhamnaceae family. Widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin, R. alaternus is used in the usual medicine in numerous countries, mostly Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, France, Italy, and Croatia. A large number of disorders—including dermatological complications, diabetes, hepatitis, and goiter problems—can be treated by the various parts of R. alaternus (i.e., roots, bark, berries, and leaves). Several bioactive compounds were isolated from R. alaternus, including flavonoids, anthocyanins, and anthraquinones, and showed several effects such as antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, antigenotoxic, antimutagenic, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative. This review summarizes the updated information concerning the botanical description, distribution, extraction processes applied on R. alaternus, and its ethnopharmacology, toxicity, phytochemistry, and pharmacological effects.

Triterpenoid and Steroid Content of Lipophilic Extracts of Selected Medicinal Plants of the Mediterranean Region

“…Rhamnus alaternus L. (Rhamnaceae) is a small shrub (known under many local names in North Africa, e.g., Imlilesse, Oud El-khir, Safir; or Meliles in Berber language), used in traditional medicine for its gastric, diuretic, hepatoprotective, hypotensive, antioxidant antimutagenic effects. Extracts from various parts of R. alaternus (i.e., roots, bark, berries, leaves) are applied to treat a large number of disorders, including diabetes, hepatitis, dermatological and goiter problems [ 29 , 30 ].…”

Antihemolytic activity of hydroalcoholic leaves and bark extracts from Rhamnus alaternus against AAPH induced hemolysis on human erythrocytes

“…It is generally distributed throughout the Mediterranean countries. In North Africa, it grows in Algeria, Morocco, and northern Tunisia (Nekkaa et al, 2021). This plant is one species used in reforestation programs due to its ability to survive in xeric environments.…”

“…In traditional medicine, the leaves are used as a purgative, laxative, and to treat jaundice (Moussi et al, 2015). In North African countries, the bark is used to cure various dermatological problems and treat diabetes (Nekkaa et al, 2021). R. alaternus crude extracts had powerful antimutagenic action as well as strong inhibition of xanthine oxidase.…”

Optimization of the extraction process of bioactive compounds from Rhamnus alaternus leaves using Box-Behnken experimental design

“…Related to the presence of such biomolecules, this plant is empirically used for its biological properties including antioxidant, antigenotoxic (Bhouri et al, 2011), antihyperlipidemic (Tacherfiout et al, 2018) and antimutagenic activities (Ben Ammar et al, 2005). Besides, other biological effects including antibacterial activity were also mentioned in the literature (Ben Ammar et al, 2007;Nekkaa et al, 2021).…”