Pharmacological and Chemical Potential of Spiranthes sinensis (Orchidaceae): A Narrative Review

Abstract

Orchidaceae is one of the largest families of flowering plants with more than 27,000 accepted species, and more than 31,000–35,000 species are estimated to exist in total. The orchid Spiranthes sinensis (Pers.) Ames, having ornamental and medicinal value, is widely distributed throughout Asia and Oceania. S. sinensis (Shou Tsao) is also known as Panlongshen among the common folk herbs. It has a fleshy root similar to ginseng, and the entire plant is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Owing to overexploitation and habitat destruction in recent years, the wild population has become scarce. The traits of this species show obvious differences in different countries. In the Taiwanese climate, it flowers during the Ching Ming Festival, also called the ching ming tsao. Previous investigations into S. sinensis have revealed the presence of flavonoids, homocyclotirucallane, dihydrophenanthrenes, ferulic acid, and 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde. Phenolic constituents of structural and biological interest, including phenanthrenes and flavonoids, have been isolated and identified from S. sinensis. This natural product possesses extensive bioactivity, including anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. In this review, we outline the herbal medicine formulations and plant-derived natural products of S. sinensis.

Cytotoxic Activities and the Allantoinase Inhibitory Effect of the Leaf Extract of the Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Nepenthes miranda

“…Various parts of N. miranda, i.e., the leaf, stem, and pitcher, were collected, dried, cut into small pieces, pulverized into powder, and extracted using different solvents (water, methanol, ethanol, and acetone). Pharmacological potentials and antioxidant activity are usually correlated [55,56]. Therefore, we analyzed the antioxidant activities of different extracts of N. miranda using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay.…”

Antidiabetic Molecular Mechanisms of Active Compounds from Several Orchids

“…namely phenolic, vanillic acid, protocatechuic acid, caffeic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid, ferulic acid, vanillin, p-coumaric acid, sinapic acid, benzoic acid, and ellagic acid have potentials as antioxidants. Orchidaceae, as a big plant family, is well known as a source of bioactive compounds, which has been studied for its new bioactive natural products (Kuo et al, 2022). This article reviews some orchids with their medicinal properties, which can be used as antidiabetics along with their particular mechanisms, using the most recent investigations available on literatures.…”

A multi-omics study of the anti-cancer effect of a ferulic acid derivative FA-30

“…7,9,10 As the representative ingredient, ferulic acid (FA), 4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamic acid, is a polyphenolic compound with an acrylic acid group on the benzene ring. 11 Modern pharmacological studies show that FA has effects such as antioxidant, 12 antithrombotic, 13 anti-cancer, 14 and so on. Ferulic acid has also been reported to treat cervical cancer via down-regulating the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway, induction of cell cycle arrest, and autophagy, 15 and enhancement of ROS (reactive oxygen species, ROS) levels.…”