Biological Activities of Wild Asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.)

Abstract

Asparagus acutifolius L. (wild asparagus) is an edible plant species that is widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean. This study was designed to investigate the phenolic compounds, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities of ethanol and water extracts of different parts (fruits and leaves) of A. acutifolius. The antioxidant activities of these extracts were analyzed using scavenging methods (DPPH and ABTS scavenging activity), the β-carotene/linoleic acid test system and the phosphomolybdenum method. Among the evaluations of the ethanol and water extracts of the different parts of A. acutifolius, the ethanol extract of the leaves was shown to have the highest amount of radical scavenging activities (DPPH, 0.383 mg/mL and ABTS, 0.145 mg/mL). Each extract of A. acutifolius exhibited strong antioxidant capacities with the β-carotene/Linoleic acid test system. For the phosphomolybdenum method, the antioxidant capacity of the extracts was in the range of 8.89-45.29 µg/mg and each extract exhibited high cytotoxic activities. The results will provide additional information for future studies on the biological activities of A. acutifolius, while also helping us to understand the importance of this species.

Modification of Mediterranean Diet Pyramid from an Island’s perspective

“…Some edible herbs in the Mediterranean region such as Corchorus olitorius, Common mallow (Malva sylvestris), Cynara cornigera, Silene vulgaris, Centaurea hyalolepis, Cynara cardunculus, wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius), Notobasis syriaca, Sinapis alba and wild fruits which grow in the nature include some nutrients and phytochemicals. Thus, they have potentially important health benefits [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]. In the current study, consumption frequencies of edible herbs and wild fruits were rare.…”

Seed Treatment Techniques to Improve Germination of Wild Asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius L.), a Potential New Crop

“…Moreover, the extract of fresh young shoots of wild asparagus was found to have antiinflammatory and adaptogenic effects (Kasture et al, 2009), while the aqueous extract of Asparagus acutifolius had a high pro-apoptotic effect against cancer cell lines because of its various natural bioactive compounds (Bilusic et al, 2019). Fruit and leaves of wild asparagus could be considered as a source of natural agents (phenolic compounds, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities) for the food and pharmaceutical industry (Kaska et al, 2018).…”

Morphological and Habitat Characteristics of Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) and Socio-Economic Structure of Producers

“…It is a vegetable that is a quite valuable gourmet product which is even named as "food of kings" or "vegetable of queens" in Europe (Alan, 2017). Among community, generally, under-earth and aboveearth parts of some of its various species are being used as diuretic, tonic, heart sedative, demulsan, antidiarrhoeal, anticancer, antitumor, immune booster, aphrodisiac and antispasmodic in traditional treatment (Sharma and Bhatnagar, 2011;Sharan et al, 2011;Nishizawa et al, 2016;Singh and Geentanjali, 2016;Hasan et al, 2016;Kaska et al, 2018;Okur and Baltacioğlu, 2018;Mfengwana and Mashele, 2019). Numerous studies were conducted on various types of species.…”

“…In order to make type diagnosis in a definite way, it is required for both individuals to be collected and examined. In general, it is not paid attention to this aspect while collecting plants, majority of herbarium samples are composed of plant parts made of cladode and trunk (Kaska et al, 2018) Asparagus is in the Liliaceae family of the Magnoliophyta branch, the Liliopsida class, the Asparagales order. It is named as Asparagus officinalis L. in the World.…”