Aromatic Plants as a Source of Bioactive Compounds

Abstract

Aromatic plants, also known as herbs and spices, have been used since antiquity as folk medicine and as preservatives in foods. The best known aromatic plants, such as oregano, rosemary, sage, anise, basil, etc., originate from the Mediterranean area. They contain many biologically active compounds, mainly polyphenolics, which have been found to possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antiprotozoal, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. Currently, the demand for these plants and their derivatives has increased because they are natural, eco-friendly and generally recognized as safe products. Therefore, aromatic plants and their extracts have the potential to become new generation substances for human and animal nutrition and health. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the literature surrounding the in vivo and in vitro use of aromatic plants.

Effect of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) diet supplementation in rabbit nutrition on performance, digestibility, health and meat quality

“…In general, the active components of the aromatic plants offered the potential of better flavour, which directly increased consumption (Christaki et al, 2012). Hence, an improvement in performance should have been observed in the rabbits fed phyto-additive diets.…”

“…Generally, the chemical components of medicinal plants are considered cause some type of effect after usage (Christaki et al, 2012). Tannins have been suggested to be the main active compound in LS, but flavonoids have also been discovered to have an effect (Humadi and Istudor, 2009).…”

“…Aromatic plants contain many biologically active compounds that exhibit medicinal properties (Christaki et al, 2012) that could improve production performance, as well as animal health and meat quality. Supplementation with alternative substances, such as probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes and organic acids, has been studied in rabbits, with interesting results emerging (Falcão-e-Cunha et al, 2007;Rotolo et al, 2014).…”

Rabbit dietary supplementation with pale purple coneflower. 2. Effects on the performances, bacterial community, blood parameters and immunity of growing rabbits

“…The present results differ from those of Arafa et al (2010) who found, in a similar study using EPUR at 130 mg/kg BW, a significant decrease in the mortality rate and an increase in the live weight in 6-week-old growing rabbits fed E diets (P < 0.05). Dietary herb supplementation usually leads to an improvement in the flavour, which in turn accounts leads to an increase in feed ingestion and better performance (Franz et al, 2010;Christaki et al, 2012). Ahmed et al (2008) highlighted a significant improvement in the final BW, daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio in growing rabbits, which had orally been given 7.5 mg of EPUR extracts/kg BW/day in liquid form.…”

Effect of Various Concentrations of an Anise Seed Powder (Pimpinella Anisum L.) Supplement on Selected Hematological and Biochemical Parameters of Broiler Chickens

“…Anise fruits, or the so-called seeds, are usable parts of the plant (Al-Beitawi et al, 2009). They contain 2-6% of essential oils, phenolic acids, eugenol, estragole, and trans-anethole, which is a powerful phytoestrogen and the main component of the oil (80-95%) (Christaki et al, 2012). Anise has been used over the years for its antioxidant (Gulcin et al, 2003), antimicrobial (Al-Kassie 2008), antibacterial (Tabanca et al, 2003), antipyretic (Afifi et al, 1994), and antifungal (Soliman & Badea 2002) properties.…”