Published in

Hindawi, Journal of Food Quality, (2021), p. 1-14, 2021

DOI: 10.1155/2021/8985179

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Chemical Composition, Biological Activity, and Health-Promoting Effects of Withania somnifera for Pharma-Food Industry Applications

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Orange circle
Preprint: archiving restricted
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The Withania genus comes from the Solanaceae family and includes around 23 species, spread over some areas of the Mediterranean, Asia, and East Africa. Widely used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, these plants are rich in secondary metabolites, with special emphasis on steroidal lactones, named withanolides which are used as ingredients in numerous formulations for a plethora of diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, arthritis, impotence, amnesia, hypertension, anxiety, stress, cancer, neurodegenerative, and cardiovascular diseases, and many others. Among them, Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is the most widely addressed species from a pharmacological and agroindustrial point of view. In this sense, this review provides an overview of the folk uses, phytochemical composition, and biological activity, such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic activity of W. somnifera, although more recently other species have also been increasingly investigated. In addition, their health-promoting effects, i.e., antistress, anxiolytic, adaptogenic, antirheumatoid arthritis, chemoprotective, and cardiorespiratory-enhancing abilities, along with safety and adverse effects are also discussed.