Chemical Composition and Pharmacological Activity of Garden Savory (Satureja hortensis L.) Occurring in Georgia

Computation Screening of Multi-Target Antidiabetic Properties of Phytochemicals in Common Edible Mediterranean Plants

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease and one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide. Numerous studies support that the Mediterranean diet has preventive and treatment effects on diabetes. These effects have been attributed to the special bioactive composition of Mediterranean foods. The objective of this work was to decipher the antidiabetic activity of Mediterranean edible plant materials using the DIA-DB inverse virtual screening web server. A literature review on the antidiabetic potential of Mediterranean plants was performed and twenty plants were selected for further examination. Subsequently, the most abundant flavonoids, phenolic acids, and terpenes in plant materials were studied to predict their antidiabetic activity. Results showed that flavonoids are the most active phytochemicals as they modulate the function of 17 protein-targets and present high structural similarity with antidiabetic drugs. Their antidiabetic effects are linked with three mechanisms of action, namely (i) regulation of insulin secretion/sensitivity, (ii) regulation of glucose metabolism, and (iii) regulation of lipid metabolism. Overall, the findings can be utilized to understand the antidiabetic activity of edible Mediterranean plants pinpointing the most active phytoconstituents.

Flavonoid Accumulation in an Aseptic Culture of Summer Savory (Satureja hortensis L.)

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) is a medicinal and aromatic plant of the Lamiaceae family, a source of valuable secondary metabolites (monoterpenoids, rosmarinic acid, flavonoids). For this paper, flavonoid accumulation in an aseptic culture of summer savory was determined by using a colorimetric method. The organ specificity of flavonoid accumulation in aseptic plants was revealed: In leaves (8.35 ± 0.17 mg/g FW), flower buds (7.55 ± 0.29 mg/g FW), and calyx (5.27 ± 0.28 mg/g FW), flavonoids accumulated in significantly higher amounts than in stems (1.50 ± 0.22 mg/g FW) and corolla (0.78 ± 0.12 mg/g FW). We found that primary callus tissue formed from cotyledon and hypocotyl explants retains the ability to synthesize flavonoids at deficient levels (0.50 ± 0.09 mg/g FW and 0.44 ± 0.11 mg/g FW, respectively), that remained stable throughout six subcultures. Placing the callus tissue in monochrome lighting conditions with blue, green, and red light-emitting diode (LED) lamps leads to morphological changes in the tissue and decreased flavonoid accumulation compared to fluorescent lamps.

Six Common Herbs with Distinctive Bioactive, Antioxidant Components. A Review of Their Separation Techniques

Rosemary, oregano, pink savory, lemon balm, St. John’s wort, and saffron are common herbs wildly grown and easily cultivated in many countries. All of them are rich in antioxidant compounds that exhibit several biological and health activities. They are commercialized as spices, traditional medicines, or raw materials for the production of essential oils. The whole herbs or the residues of their current use are potential sources for the recovery of natural antioxidant extracts. Finding effective and feasible extraction and purification methods is a major challenge for the industrial production of natural antioxidant extracts. In this respect, the present paper is an extensive literature review of the solvents and extraction methods that have been tested on these herbs. Green solvents and novel extraction methods that can be easily scaled up for industrial application are critically discussed.

Evaluation of Chemical Composition, Radical Scavenging and Antitumor Activities of Satureja hortensis L. Herb Extracts

Satureja hortensis L. is an annual herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae Lindl. family. S. hortensis L., related to thyme and rosemary, is used as spice and traditional medicinal herb in Europe. Mainly due to the polyphenols contained in S. hortensis L., this plant exhibits multiple biological effects. However, therapeutic effects on cells, including skin tumors, have not yet been studied. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the composition and the resulting antioxidant as well as biological properties [on melanocytes and melanoma cells] of summer, savory growing in botanical garden of Vytautas Magnus University in middle Lithuania climatic conditions, collected during various phases of vegetation. It has been shown that the budding phase alcohol extract of this plant contains the largest amounts of polyphenols, including rutin and rosemary acid, which promote the radical scavenging activity and antioxidant properties. In contrast, the extract from the massive flowering phase already at a concentration of 12.5 µg/mL reduces the survival of melanoma cells to 60% with 90% melanocytes survival. In addition, extracts from beginning of flowering and end of flowering at a concentration of 25 µg/mL, containing significantly less rutin and rosmarinic acid, in combination with irradiation of cells with UVB, significantly increased the lipid peroxidation process, particularly in melanoma cells. These data indicate the possibility of using extracts from S. hortensis L. to modulate/differentiate the metabolism of normal and tumor skin cells.

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) extract: Phytochemical profile and modulation of cisplatin-induced liver, renal and testicular toxicity

The aim of our study was to examine the potential ameliorating effect of the methanolic extract of Satureja hortensis L. (summer savory) aerial parts against cisplatin-induced oxidative damage in renal, hepatic, and testicular tissues. S. hortensis methanol extract at the doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of body weight were orally administered to Wistar rats once daily for 10 days. Toxicity was induced by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of cisplatin (7.5 mg/kg of body weight) on the 5th day of the experiment. Applied treatment with S. hortensis extract restored tissue morphology, ameliorated levels of serum parameters for liver, renal and testes function, tissue oxidative stress parameters, and increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio as an indicator of apoptosis in experimental animals caused by application of cisplatin. UHPLC/DAD/HESI-MS/MS analysis revealed that S. hortensis extract was rich in phenolic compounds with rosmarinic acid (24.9 mg/g) as the main compound, followed by caffeic acid (1.28 mg/g) and naringenin (1.06 mg/g). Our findings suggest that S. hortensis may be a valuable source of dietary and pharmacologically important phenolic compounds, especially rosmarinic acid, in pharmaceutical and functional food formulations in order to maintain normal health conditions or as a remedy in various diseases caused by oxidative damage.

The Health Benefits of Selected Culinary Herbs and Spices Found in the Traditional Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest diets in the world. This is often attributed to low saturated fat consumption, moderate wine consumption, and high vegetable consumption. However, herbs and spices associated with these diets may also play an important role in the quality of this diet. This review summarizes the most recent research regarding the anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-hypertensive properties of this collection of culinary species. Additionally, this review briefly summarizes studies performed on lesser known herbs from around the world, with the goal of identifying new culinary species that may be useful in the treatment or prevention of diseases.

Rosmarinic acid-rich extracts of summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) protect Jurkat T cells against oxidative stress

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis L., Lamiaceae) is used in several regions of the world as a spice and folk medicine. Anti-inflammatory and cytoprotective effects of S. hortensis and of its rosmarinic acid-rich phenolic fraction have been demonstrated in animal trials. However, previous studies of rosmarinic acid in cell models have yielded controversial results. In this study, we investigated the effects of summer savory extracts on H2O2-challenged human lymphoblastoid Jurkat T cells. LC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of rosmarinic acid and flavonoids such as hesperidin and naringin in the phenolic fraction. Adding 25 or 50 µM of H2O2 to the cell culture caused oxidative stress, manifested as generation of superoxide and peroxyl radicals, reduced cell viability, G0/G1 arrest, and enhanced apoptosis. This stress was significantly alleviated by the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of S. hortensis and by the partially purified rosmarinic acid fraction. The application of an aqueous S. hortensis extract doubled the activity of catalase and superoxide dismutase in the cells. The production of IL-2 and IL-10 interleukins was stimulated by H2O2 and was further enhanced by the addition of the S. hortensis extract or rosmarinic acid fraction. The H2O2-challenged Jurkat cells may serve as a model for investigating cellular mechanisms of cytoprotective phytonutrient effects.

Effect of microwave irradiation on polyphenolic compounds from Satureja hortensis L

Summer savory (Satureja hortensis L.) is most often used as a culinary herb, but it also has medicinal benefits. The extracts from control and irradiated savory were obtained by ultrasound extraction for 30 minutes in an ethanol — water (80:20, v/v) mixture. Polyphenolic compounds from savory were identified and characterized by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a photodiode array detector and mass spectrometer. The separation was performed using an Altima C18 column (100×3 mm, 3 μm) and as mobile phase two solvent mixture: A — acetonitrile and B — water-formic acid (99.9:0.1, v/v). Peaks were identified with authentic standards in accordance to retention time, UV spectra and molecular mass. It was identified as caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, luteolin, naringenin and apigenin. A quantitative determination of polyphenolic compounds was performed applying the external standard method. Our study showed large quantitative differences between the control plant and the irradiated plant.