TY - JOUR
T1 - Cucurbits plants
T2 - A key emphasis to its pharmacological potential
AU - Salehi, Bahare
AU - Capanoglu, Esra
AU - Adrar, Nabil
AU - Catalkaya, Gizem
AU - Shaheen, Shabnum
AU - Jaffer, Mehwish
AU - Giri, Lalit
AU - Suyal, Renu
AU - Jugran, Arun K.
AU - Calina, Daniela
AU - Docea, Anca Oana
AU - Kamiloglu, Senem
AU - Kregiel, Dorota
AU - Antolak, Hubert
AU - Pawlikowska, Ewelina
AU - Sen, Surjit
AU - Acharya, Krishnendu
AU - Selamoglu, Zeliha
AU - Sharifi-Rad, Javad
AU - Martorell, Miquel
AU - Rodrigues, Célia F.
AU - Sharopov, Farukh
AU - Martins, Natália
AU - Capasso, Raffaele
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Cucurbita genus has received a renowned interest in the last years. This plant species, native to the Americas, has served worldwide folk medicine for treating gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal parasites, among other clinical conditions. These pharmacological effects have been increasingly correlated with their nutritional and phytochemical composition. Among those chemical constituents, carotenoids, tocopherols, phenols, terpenoids, saponins, sterols, fatty acids, and functional carbohydrates and polysaccharides are those occurring in higher abundance. However, more recently, a huge interest in a class of triterpenoids, cucurbitacins, has been stated, given its renowned biological attributes. In this sense, the present review aims to provide a detailed overview to the folk medicinal uses of Cucurbita plants, and even an in-depth insight on the latest advances with regards to its antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer effects. A special emphasis was also given to its clinical effectiveness in humans, specifically in blood glucose levels control in diabetic patients and pharmacotherapeutic effects in low urinary tract diseases.
AB - Cucurbita genus has received a renowned interest in the last years. This plant species, native to the Americas, has served worldwide folk medicine for treating gastrointestinal diseases and intestinal parasites, among other clinical conditions. These pharmacological effects have been increasingly correlated with their nutritional and phytochemical composition. Among those chemical constituents, carotenoids, tocopherols, phenols, terpenoids, saponins, sterols, fatty acids, and functional carbohydrates and polysaccharides are those occurring in higher abundance. However, more recently, a huge interest in a class of triterpenoids, cucurbitacins, has been stated, given its renowned biological attributes. In this sense, the present review aims to provide a detailed overview to the folk medicinal uses of Cucurbita plants, and even an in-depth insight on the latest advances with regards to its antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer effects. A special emphasis was also given to its clinical effectiveness in humans, specifically in blood glucose levels control in diabetic patients and pharmacotherapeutic effects in low urinary tract diseases.
KW - Anticancer
KW - Antimicrobial
KW - Antioxidant
KW - Cucurbits
KW - Pumpkin
KW - Squash
KW - Traditional medicine
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85066093697
U2 - 10.3390/molecules24101854
DO - 10.3390/molecules24101854
M3 - Artículo de revisión
C2 - 31091784
AN - SCOPUS:85066093697
SN - 1420-3049
VL - 24
JO - Molecules
JF - Molecules
IS - 10
M1 - 1854
ER -
