Abstract
Malva sylvestris
is widely used in Mediterranean and European traditional medicine and
ethnoveterinary for the treatment of external and internal inflammation,
as well as injuries. Moreover, its use is not only limited to
therapeutic purposes; but also the species is locally regarded as a food
wild herb. Considering that antioxidants and free radical scavengers
can exert also an anti-inflammatory effect, the extracts of different
parts of the medicinal/edible plant M. sylvestris (leaves,
flowers, immature fruits and leafy flowered stems) were compared for
their nutraceutical potential (antioxidant properties) and chemical
composition. Particularly, mallow leaves revealed very strong
antioxidant properties including radical-scavenging activity (EC50 = 0.43 mg/mL),
reducing power (0.07 mg/mL) and lipid peroxidation inhibition in
lipossomes (0.04 mg/mL) and brain cells homogenates (0.09 mg/mL). This
part of the plant is also the richest in nutraceuticals such as powerful
antioxidants (phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids, and tocopherols),
unsaturated fatty acids (e.g. α-linolenic acid), and minerals measured
in ash content.
Keywords
- Malva sylvestris;
- Portuguese ethnobotany;
- Leaves;
- Flowers and stems;
- Fruits;
- Nutraceuticals
Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
