Plant Adaptogens—History and Future Perspectives

Abstract

Adaptogens are synthetic compounds (bromantane, levamisole, aphobazole, bemethyl, etc.) or plant extracts that have the ability to enhance the body’s stability against physical loads without increasing oxygen consumption. Extracts from Panax ginseng, Eleutherococcus senticosus, Rhaponticum carthamoides, Rhodiola rosea, and Schisandra chinensis are considered to be naturally occurring adaptogens and, in particular, plant adaptogens. The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of plant adaptogens in the past and now, as well as to outline the prospects of their future applications. The use of natural adaptogens by humans has a rich history—they are used in recovery from illness, physical weakness, memory impairment, and other conditions. About 50 years ago, plant adaptogens were first used in professional sports due to their high potential to increase the body’s resistance to stress and to improve physical endurance. Although now many people take plant adaptogens, the clinical trials on human are limited. The data from the meta-analysis showed that plant adaptogens could provide a number of benefits in the treatment of chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment, and immune protection. In the future, there is great potential to register medicinal products that contain plant adaptogens for therapeutic purposes.

Comparison between the Biological Active Compounds in Plants with Adaptogenic Properties (Rhaponticum carthamoides, Lepidium meyenii, Eleutherococcus senticosus and Panax ginseng)

“…Its intake is associated with not only adaptogenic activity, but also with antimicrobial, anti-oxidative, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, and anabolic activity [ 13 , 31 ]. The intake of Rhapoticum carthamoides extract is not associated with side effects [ 13 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. The main bioactive compounds detected in Rhaponticum carthamoides are phytosteroids, flavonoids, and phenolic acids.…”

“…There are data about the intake of Rhaponticum carthamoides extract, which contains ecdysterone [ 38 , 71 , 73 ]. The intake of Rhaponticum carthamoides extract is associated with decreased body weight; increased resistance to disease; physical and mental endurance; improvement in cardiac and cognitive functions [ 35 , 36 , 72 , 73 , 74 ]. Studies that investigate ecdysterone activity in cell cultures are also limited [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 ].…”

“…The most well-known activities of Eleutherococus senticosus are immunoregulation, hepatoprotection, antiviral, and antibacterial effects [ 12 , 160 , 163 , 164 , 165 ]. The intake of this extract is not associated with adverse effects [ 35 , 166 , 167 , 168 ].…”

“…The extract is also used because of its adaptogenic properties, as an antioxidant and as an aphrodisiac [ 195 , 198 , 200 , 201 , 202 ]. The intake of this extract is not associated with side effects [ 35 , 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 ].…”

“…Although the four plants have quite different phytochemical composition ( Table 6 ), the future perspectives for introduction of their specific molecules/ plant extracts as medi-cines are similar [ 12 , 13 , 22 , 23 ]. Most of them could be included in the management of dia-betes, cardiovascular diseases, or used as nootropic agents and hepatoprotectors ( Table 7 ) [ 12 , 18 , 35 , 62 , 67 , 132 ]. Rhaponticum carthamoides is the only plant among these which has the greatest potential to be used as a remedy for improvement physical performance, because of potential ergogenic activity.…”