No abstract

No abstract

Piper betle L., belonging to Piperaceae family, known as a traditional herbal medicinal plant and used for several health benefits in Asian countries. Currently, demand for its products such as herbal drugs, medicines, and natural herbal formulations has increased. The beneficial effects of betel leaves and its products have traditionally exploited for the treatment of several diseases like bad breath, cuts, injuries, inflammations, cold cough, indigestion, etc. Till now, a broad range of bioactive compounds including polyphenols, terpenes, etc., has been identified from the extracts and essential oil (EO) of betel leaves. The structural and functional characterization of the extract and EO bio-actives has been derived by various advanced standard methods. Most of the health-related benefits of betel leaves have been associated with their bioactive phenolic compounds. The extract of this highly perishable product can be used in organic synthesis, food, and beverage industry, pharmaceuticals, etc., to the environmental issues. The present review provides information on extraction techniques, identification of bioactive compounds, and their biological activities. That apart, information on processing, preservation, and health benefits along with their mechanisms has also been added.

The optimization of extraction by the Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology, chemical composition, antioxidant activity (AA), and total phenolic content (TPC) of fresh and cured betel leaf essential oil (BLEO) was reported. A quadratic polynomial equation developed by multiple regression analysis revealed that the models were highly significant with R2 = .98 and p < .0001. At optimal extraction conditions of extraction time (140 min), extraction temperature (100°C) and leaf to water ratio (1:1.5 g/L), 0.35% and 0.48% of fresh and cured BLEO yield were obtained. Thirty‐three and thirty volatile compounds were identified from fresh and cured BLEO by gas chromatography‐mass spectroscopy, accounting for 96.4% and 93.96% of the total oils, respectively. Eugenol, estragole, linalool, α‐copene, and anethole with different percentages were accounted to be major components. Fresh BLEO exhibited strong antioxidant effects on DPPH and TPC than cured leaf EO. Both the EOs explored that AA had a positive correlation with their phenolic contents. Practical applicationsThe present study explores the effect of optimized exhaustive hydrodistillate condition on the analysis of chemical composition and AA of essential oil (EO). The findings of optimized extraction embodied in the present research can be scaled up for commercial and industrial purposes. Both fresh and cured BLEO may be used in the food industry as a natural food preservative and flavoring agent. It can be also used for various herbal, medicinal, and therapeutic products. The main identified compounds such as eugenol, estragole, and linalool are the most valuable for food and pharmaceutical industries. Eugenol was found to be the highest amount in the extracted EO that can be used as a local anesthetic in dentistry as an ingredient in dental cement for temporary fillings.

No abstract