Mediterranean Lavenders from Section Stoechas: An Undervalued Source of Secondary Metabolites with Pharmacological Potential

Joana Domingues; Fernanda Delgado; José Carlos Gonçalves; Mónica Zuzarte; Ana Paula Duarte

doi:10.3390/metabo13030337

Mediterranean Lavenders from Section Stoechas: An Undervalued Source of Secondary Metabolites with Pharmacological Potential

Metabolites. 2023 Feb 24;13(3):337. doi: 10.3390/metabo13030337.

Authors

Joana Domingues^{1

2}, Fernanda Delgado^{1

3

4}, José Carlos Gonçalves^{1

3

4}, Mónica Zuzarte^{5

6

7}, Ana Paula Duarte^{2

8}

Affiliations

¹ Plant Biotechnology Centre of Beira Interior (CBPBI), 6001-909 Castelo Branco, Portugal.
² Health Sciences Research Centre (CICS), University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal.
³ Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco-School of Agriculture (IPCB-ESA), 6001-909 Castelo Branco, Portugal.
⁴ Research Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (CERNAS-IPCB), 6001-909 Castelo Branco, Portugal.
⁵ Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR), Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁶ Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), University of Coimbra, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁷ Clinical Academic Centre of Coimbra (CACC), 3004-531 Coimbra, Portugal.
⁸ Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilhã, Portugal.

Abstract

Globally, climate change and wildfires are disrupting natural ecosystems, thus setting several endemic species at risk. The genus Lavandula is widely present in the Mediterranean region and its species, namely, those included in the section Stoechas, are valuable resources of active compounds with several biological assets. Since ancient times lavenders have been used in traditional medicine and for domestic purposes. These species are melliferous, decorative, and essential oil-producing plants with a high economic interest in the pharmaceutical, flavor, fragrance, and food industries. The essential oils of Lavandula section Stoechas are characterized by high amounts of 1,8-cineole, camphor, fenchone, and specifically for L. stoechas subsp. luisieri one of the major compounds is trans-α-necrodyl acetate. On the other hand, the diversity of non-volatile components like phenolic compounds, such as phenolic acids and flavonoids, make these species an important source of phytochemicals with pharmacological interest. Rosmarinic, caffeic, and salvianolic B acids are the major phenolic acids, and luteolin and eriodictyol-O-glucuronide are the main reported flavonoids. However, the concentration of these secondary metabolites is strongly affected by the plant's phenological phase and varies in Lavandula sp. from different areas of origin. Indeed, lavender extracts have shown promising antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties as well as several other beneficial actions with potential for commercial applications. Despite several studies on the bioactive potential of lavenders from the section Stoechas, a systematized and updated review of their chemical profile is lacking. Therefore, we carried out the present review that gathers relevant information on the different types of secondary metabolites found in these species as well as their bioactive potential.

Keywords: Lavandula pedunculata; Lavandula stoechas subsp. luisieri; Lavandula stoechas subsp. stoechas; Lavandula viridis; biological activities; chemical profile.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by CICSUBI, which is financed by Portuguese Funding Agency for Science Research and Technology (FCT) and by FEDER under the scope of PORTUGAL 2020 and CENTRO 2020, within the projects UIDB/00709/2020 (core and programmatic fundings); by the Research Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society (CERNAS-IPCB) [project UIDB/00681/2020] funding by Portuguese Funding Agency for Science Research and Technology (FCT); and by La Caixa Foundation and Portuguese Funding Agency for Science Research and Technology, under the project PD21-00003.