Table 1.

Ethno-medicinal plants used in the treatment of hypertension by influencing the ACE1 renin–angiotensin (RAS) pathway.

Species		Mechanism	Bioactive Phytochemicals	Geographical Distribution	Reference
* Adenopodia spicata	Spiny splinter bean	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids	Southern Africa	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12]
* Agapanthus africanus	African lily	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids Sitosterol, yuccagenin, agapanthagenin, spirostan sapogenins.	South Africa	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12]
* Agave Americana	Century plant, maguey, or American aloe	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid, n-docosane, and eicosane	Mexico, USA	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12]
Allium sp.	Wild Garlic	Decrease circulating angiotensin II	Allicin	Indigenous: Central Asia Currently found worldwide	Preuss, et al. [43]
* Amaranthus dubius	Red spinach, Chinese spinach, wild spinach	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids Niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, ascorbic acid, hydrocyanic acid, oxalic acid	Indigenous: China Currently found worldwide	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
* Amaranthus hybridus	Smooth amaranth, smooth pigweed	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides	North America	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
Aronia melanocarpa	Chokeberry	Weak ACE1 inhibition	Polyphenols	North America	Sikora, et al. [44]
Aspalathus linearis	Rooibos	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, polyphenols	Western Cape, South Africa	Persson [42]
* Asystasia gangetica	Creeping foxglove	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids Alkaloids, terpenes, salidroside, apigenin, ajugol, megastigmaneglucoside, benzyl β-D-glucopyranoside	Tropics	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
Berberis integerrima	Barberry	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, flavinols, flavonols, anthocynins, isoflavones, flavones, and other phenolic compounds.	Iran	Kearney, Whelton, Reynolds, Muntner, Whelton and He [6]
Caragana microphylla	Littleleaf Peashrub	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, flavinols, flavonols, anthocynins, isoflavones, flavones, and other phenolic compounds.	Mongolia, China	Kearney, Whelton, Reynolds, Muntner, Whelton and He [6]
Cecropia glaziovii	Pumpwood (guarumo)	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids and proanthocyanidins	S. America-southern and eastern Brazil	Lacaille-Dubois, et al. [45]
Crataegus spp	Hawthorn	Weak ACE1 inhibitory effect	Bioflavonoids and proanthocyanidins	North America and Europe	Brixius, et al. [46] Rawat, et al. [47]
* Dietes iridioides	African iris, Cape iris	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids	Sub-Saharan Africa	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12]
Galinsoga parviflora	Potato weed	ACE1 inhibition	Not known	Central America. Currently found worldwide	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
Guazuma ulmifolia	West Indian elm	Inhibits binding of Ang II to angiotensin II type 1 receptor	Proanthocyanidins	Central America	Caballero-George, et al. [48]
Hibiscus sabderiffa	Hibiscus	ACE1 inhibition	Anthocyanins (delphinidin-3-sambubiocyde and cynadine-3-sambubiocyde)	Africa, South East Asia, and Central America	Ojeda, et al. [49]
Ipomoea reniformis	Morning glory	ACE1 inhibition	Polyphenols	Subcontinent of Asia, China, Indonesia, Australia and Africa	Jabeen and Aslam [50]
* Justicia flava	Water-willow and shrimp plant	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids Sterols, salicyclic acid, lignins, docosanoic acid	tropical to warm temperate regions worldwide	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
* Mesembryanthemum sp.	Fig marigold or Icicle plant	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids Betanidin, isobetanin, sterols, sapogenines, triterpenes, tannins and alkaloids	Southern Africa	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12]
Musanga cecropioides	Corkwood	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids and proanthocyanidins	Tropical Africa	Lacaille-Dubois, Franck and Wagner [45]
Nigella sativa	Black cumin	ACE1 inhibition	Thymoquinone and polyphenols	Middle East, India and Northern Africa	Jaarin, et al. [51]
Nymphaea alba	White waterlily	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, flavinols, flavonols, anthocynins, isoflavones, flavones, and other phenolic compounds.	Europe, Middle East and North Africa	Kearney, Whelton, Reynolds, Muntner, Whelton and He [6]
Ocimum gratissimum	African basil	ACE1 inhibition	Phenolic compound, rutin	Africa, Madagascar, Southern Asia Naturalized in the West Indies and surrounding countries	Shaw, et al. [52]
Olea europaea subsp. Africana	Wild olive	ACE1 inhibition	Oleuropein, esculin, ursolic acid, scopolin and oleanolic acid	Africa	Msomi and Simelane [53]
Onopordum acanthium	Cotton thistle	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, flavinols, flavonols, anthocynins, isoflavones, flavones, and other phenolic compounds.	Europe, northern Africa, the Canary Islands, the Caucasus, and southwest and central Asia.	Kearney, Whelton, Reynolds, Muntner, Whelton and He [6]
Oxygonum sinuatum	Double thorn	ACE1 inhibition	Not known	Sub-Saharan Africa	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
Peperomia pellucida	Shiny bush	ACE1 inhibition	Terpenoids, Glycosides, Antraquinones, Tannins	Indonesia	Saputri, et al. [54]
Physalis viscosa	Sticky gooseberry	ACE1 inhibition	Not known	South America, Naturalised world-wide	Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
* Protorhus longifolia	Red beech	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids Triterpenes	South Africa, Swaziland	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12]
Quercus infectoria	Aleppo oak	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, flavinols, flavonols, anthocynins, isoflavones, flavones, and other phenolic compounds.	Greece, Asia minor	Kearney, Whelton, Reynolds, Muntner, Whelton and He [6]
Rosa rugose	Beach rose	ACE1 inhibition	Not known	East Asia Naturalised in Europe and North America	Xie and Zhang [55]
Rubus sp.	Berries	ACE1 inhibition	Flavonoids, flavinols, flavonols, anthocynins, isoflavones, flavones, and other phenolic compounds.	North America, Europe	Kearney, Whelton, Reynolds, Muntner, Whelton and He [6]
Tulbaghia violacea	Garlic	Reduced BP–ACE1 and β1 inhibition (may not act via AT1 receptors or α1 receptors)	Bioflavonoids, steroidal saponins	South Africa, Zimbabwe	Duncan, Jäger and van Staden [12] Mackraj, Ramesar and Singh [36] Raji, Mugabo and Obikeze [40] Raji, Obikeze and Mugabo [41] Ramesar, Baijnath, Govender and Mackraj [38]
Viola mandshurica	Manchurian violet	ACE1 inhibition	Not known	East Asian region, China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Japan, Russia and the Far East	Huh [56]
Zingiber ottensii	Red beehive ginger	ACE 1 inhibition	Bioactive protein peptides	Tropics of Africa, Asia and the Americas	Yodjun, et al. [57]

* Plants aqueous or ethanolic extracts inhibited the ACE enzyme by greater than 50% and tested negative for tannins using the gelatin salt block test.