- doi: 10.3390/molecules24132454
- Published online 2019 Jul 4
Bahare Salehi,1 Mangalpady Shivaprasad Shetty,2 Nanjangud V. Anil Kumar,3 Jelena Živković,4 Daniela Calina,5 Anca Oana Docea,6 Simin Emamzadeh-Yazdi,7 Ceyda Sibel Kılıç,8 Tamar Goloshvili,9 Silvana Nicola,10 Giuseppe Pignata,10 Farukh Sharopov,11,* María del Mar Contreras,12,* William C. Cho,13,* Natália Martins,14,15,* and Javad Sharifi-Rad16,*
Abstract
The Veronica genus, with more than 200 species, belongs to the Plantaginaceae family and is distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere and in many parts of Southern Hemisphere. These plants are traditionally used in medicine for wound healing, in the treatment of rheumatism, and in different human diseases. This paper reviews the chemical composition of some valuable Veronica species, the possibilities Veronica extracts have in food preservation and as food ingredients, and their functional properties. Veronica species represent a valuable source of biological active secondary metabolites, including iridoid glycosides and phenolic compounds. In particular, due to presence of these phytochemicals, Veronica species exhibit a wide spectrum of biological activities, including antimicrobial and antioxidant. In fact, some studies suggest that some Veronica extracts can inhibit foodborne pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, but only a few of them were performed in food systems. Moreover, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and other bioactivities were reported in vitro and in vivo. The bioactivity of Veronica plants was demonstrated, but further studies in food systems and in humans are required.
Keywords: Veronica plants, speedwell, iridoids, phenolic compounds, natural preservatives
1. Introduction
The genus Veronica at present belongs to the family Plantaginaceae, while it was previously classified in the family Scrophulariaceae [1]. There are many suggestions (problems) related to the classification and rearrangement of this genus [2,3]. The family includes 120 plant genera with 7055 scientific plant names, of which 1614 are accepted species names [4]. The Plant List includes 1520 scientific plant names for the Veronica genus. Of these, 234 are accepted species names, 335 are synonyms, and 951 are unassessed. Thus, the total number of species belonging to the genus Veronica depends on synonym acceptance. These species are distributed over the Northern Hemisphere and into the Australasian region (Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea), with centers of diversity in western Asia and New Zealand [2]. Most of the species of Veronica occur in regions with a Mediterranean precipitation regime from the sea to high alpine elevations. Despite the importance in many habitats, aquatic plants of Veronica are mostly researched in modern biosystematic studies. The common member of the semi-aquatic plants in the Mediterranean region is Veronica sect. beccabunga [5]. Some other common species of Veronica genus are represented in Table 1.
Reference:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6651156/