Natural Antioxidants, Health Effects and Bioactive Properties of Wild Allium Species

Abstract

<jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p>There is an increasing interest from the pharmaceutical and food industry in natural antioxidant and bioactive compounds derived from plants as substitutes for synthetic compounds. The genus Allium is one of the largest genera, with more than 900 species, including important cultivated and wild species, having beneficial health effects.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective:</jats:title> <jats:p>The present review aims to unravel the chemical composition of wild Allium species and their healthrelated effects, focusing on the main antioxidant compounds. For this purpose, a thorough study of the literature was carried out to compile reports related to health effects and the principal bioactive compounds. Considering the vast number of species, this review is divided into subsections where the most studied species are presented, namely Allium ampeloprasum, A. flavum, A. hookeri, A. jesdianum, A. neapolitanum, A. roseum, A. stipitatum, A. tricoccum, and A. ursinum, with an additional composite section for less studied species.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods:</jats:title> <jats:p>The information presented in this review was obtained from worldwide accepted databases such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar and Researchgate, using as keywords the respective names of the studied species (both common and Latin names) and the additional terms of "antioxidants" "health effects" and "bioactive properties".</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion:</jats:title> <jats:p>The genus Allium includes several wild species, many of which are commonly used in traditional and folklore medicine while others are lesser known or are of regional interest. These species can be used as sources of natural bioactive compounds with remarkable health benefits. Several studies have reported these effects and confirmed the mechanisms of action in several cases, although more research is needed in this field. Moreover, considering that most of the studies refer to the results obtained from species collected in the wild under uncontrolled conditions, further research is needed to elucidate the effects of growing conditions on bioactive compounds and to promote the exploitation of this invaluable genetic material.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Variability in Bulb Organosulfur Compounds, Sugars, Phenolics, and Pyruvate among Greek Garlic Genotypes: Association with Antioxidant Properties

“…The cyclic dithiins are presumed to be the first products of allicin transformation, while acyclic compounds are produced during the thermal degradation of cyclic dithiins [ 22 ]. Indeed, other researchers who used various distillation methods for the extraction of garlic volatiles also found that organosulfur compounds such as DDS, diallyl trisulfide, and methyl allyl trisulfide were among the four most abundant ones [ 4 , 23 , 28 , 29 ]. In our study, DDS was also an important volatile constituent detected in percentages ranging from 1.81 to 8.55% (4.34 ± 1.47%).…”

“…Common garlic ( Allium sativum L., family Alliaceae) is the second most widely consumed bulb crop and one of the most cultivated bulb vegetables in Greece and worldwide, with an annual production of 28,494,130 tons and a total harvested area of 1,546,741 hectares [ 1 , 2 ]. It is consumed raw, cooked, or as an ingredient of herbal medicinal products and food supplements [ 3 , 4 ]. Garlic is considered effective and safe for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, such as atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, thrombosis, hypertension, and diabetes; it also possesses antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties and regulates blood sugar levels [ 5 ].…”

Effect of Allium senescens Extract on Sorafenib Resistance in Hepatocarcinoma Cells

“…In this study (Figure 1), we demonstrated the modeling of resistant cells. Allium species are effective in the treatment of various diseases through their bioactive compounds, including sulfur compounds and polyphenols [20,21]. Notably, A. senescens is involved in suppressing cancer growth and development, it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities, and contains bioactive compounds, such as allicin, alliin, antifungal activators [20,22], and polyphenols (hydroxycinnamic acids such as ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, and phytosterols) [20].…”

The Beneficial Health Effects of Vegetables and Wild Edible Greens: The Case of the Mediterranean Diet and Its Sustainability

“…The inestimable value of the Mediterranean agrobiodiversity, and its strong link with the MD and its beneficial effects on human health, are increasingly emerging due to the collaborative work of ethnobotanists, horticulturists, plant breeders, food chemists, and nutritionists, who together are recovering and generating new knowledge and genetic material, and are characterizing the nutritional and bioactive profile of many fruit and vegetable local landraces and wild edible species. Agrobiodiversity resources typical of the Mediterranean region, rich in bioactive compounds and commonly included as ingredients of the MD, are, for example, the multiple local landraces and selections of vegetables characterized by different shapes, harvest times, pigmentation, and associated nutritional and bioactive profiles [56,57], such as artichoke and cardoon [58][59][60][61][62][63], carrots [64][65][66], chicory and lettuce [67,68] among the Asteraceae family; broccoli and cauliflower [69] and kale [70] among the Brassicaceae family; cultivated and wild garlic [47,48,[71][72][73], and onion [50,[74][75][76] among the Liliaceae family; common beans, cowpea, fabae, and lentils among the Leguminosae family [77][78][79], melons and watermelons [80][81][82], or zucchini and squashes [83,84] among the Cucurbitaceae family; and tomato [85][86][87][88][89]…”

“…These beneficial activities have been associated with the presence of specific compounds in plants that are commonly used in this dietary pattern, including phenolic compounds, such as hydroxycinnamic and chlorogenic acid [181], saponins [182], flavones and flavonoids [99,101,183,184], tannins [126], polysaccharides [185], glucosinolates [186,187], and other organosulfur compounds [71,188]. The mechanisms involved in the bioactive properties of MD ingredients against cancer have not yet been thoroughly revealed, however, it is hypothesized that they modify the expression of hormones and growth factors that induce cancer pathogenesis [12].…”