Stellaria media (L.) Vill.- A plant with immense therapeutic potentials: phytochemistry and pharmacology

Oluwole Solomon Oladeji; Abel Kolawole Oyebamiji

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04150

Stellaria media (L.) Vill.- A plant with immense therapeutic potentials: phytochemistry and pharmacology

Heliyon. 2020 Jun 7;6(6):e04150. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04150. eCollection 2020 Jun.

Authors

Oluwole Solomon Oladeji¹, Abel Kolawole Oyebamiji^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Natural Products Research Unit, Department of Physical Sciences, Industrial Chemistry Programme, College of Pure and Applied Sciences, Landmark University, PMB 1001, Omu-Aran, Nigeria.
² Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Adeleke University, Ede, Nigeria.
³ Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.

Abstract

Stellaria media Vill. is a representative of Caryophyllaceae family. The plant is widely dispersed all over the world and has been used as therapeutic substance since time immemorial. This review is aimed at exploring the chemical constituents and pharmacological activities of S. media. The findings revealed important secondary metabolites such as flavonoid, oligosaccharide stellariose, anthraquinone derivatives, fatty acid, steroid saponins and phenolic compounds. These bioactive metabolites displayed diverse pharmacological activities such as anti-obesity, antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antidiabetic and anxiolytic activities. All findings revealed that S. media is a major species of Caryophyllaceae family. However, bioactive constituents and pharmacological potential of are not well appraised. Hence, extracts with established pharmacological activities should be subjected to bioassay guided isolation so as to obtain compounds with novel structural moieties prior to toxicogenetic appraisals.

Keywords: Biochemistry; Biological activities; Caryophyllaceae; Ethnopharmacological; Evidence-based medicine; Pharmaceutical science; Pharmacology; Phytochemistry; Plant biology; Stellaria media.

Publication types

Review