Table 2.
List of some reported therapeutic activity of spices and their constituents
| Species name (part used) | Scientific name | Activity | Mechanism of action | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black pepper (fruits) | Piper nigrum | Gastrointestinal stimulatory activity | The anti‐spasmodic activity of black pepper and piperine is mediated through activation of opioid receptor along with Ca2+ channel blocking (CCB) effect. | 16 |
| Antibacterial activity | Bactericidal action of pepper appears by alteration of cell membrane permeability result in leakage of intracellular material might cause cell death. | 17 | ||
| Antihistamic activity | The inhibition of histamine release from the mast cells plays an important role in the mechanism of anti‐allergic effect against type I allergy. | 18 | ||
| Analgesic and anti‐inflammatory activity | Piperine possesses inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis and release. | 19 | ||
| Antidepressant | Inhibit monoamine oxidase activity, increase monoamine neurotransmitter levels, and thus produce antidepressant‐like activity in various mouse models of behavioral despair. | 20 | ||
| Anti‐asthamatic activity | H‐1 receptor antagonism | 21 | ||
| Blood pressure lowering | Piperine mediates spasmolytic effect through calcium antagonism. | 22 | ||
| Antidiabetic activity | Enhancement of glucose utilization, so blood glucose levels were significantly decreased in glucose. | 23 | ||
| Hypolipidemic activity | Clearance of lipids from circulation may be due to reactivation of lipolytic enzymes. | 24 | ||
| Anticancer activity | Cytotoxic analysis revealed a dose‐dependent response with maximum cellular inhibition | 25 | ||
| Cardamom (seed pods) | Elettaria cardamomum | Skin disorders (non‐melanoma skin cancer) | Cardamom contains copper and manganese that are required for the activation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzyme, which in turn helps in the decrease in the process of lipid peroxidation. Thus, play anticarcinogenic role in preventing the progression of skin carcinogenesis in mice. | 30 |
| Anticonvulsant activity | Cardamom extract increase the level of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the blood serum and shows the anticonvulsant activity | 31 | ||
| Blood pressure lowering activity | Cardamom produced a dose‐dependent fall in the arterial blood pressure. Partial blockade of hypotensive responses with atropine indicate that cardamom lowers blood pressure due to the presence of cholinergic and an additional (Ca2+ antagonist) components, as identified in the gut preparations. Blood pressure is the product of peripheral resistance and cardiac output. | 32 | ||
| Diuresis | The diuretic effect of cardamom was confirmed, when it caused significant increase in the urine volume (diuresis) in rats, like furosemide, a standard diuretic. Cardamom also enhanced the urinary excretion of Na+ and K+, similar to that caused by furosemide. | 32 | ||
| Antioxidant activity | The extract showed protection against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced DNA damage and inhibited 2,2'‐azobis(2‐amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH) induced protein oxidation and lipid peroxidation. Cardamom also exhibited antioxidant effects. | 33 | ||
| Anti‐inflammatory and analgesic | Cardamom extract administration to rats at 50 and 100 mg kg−1 inhibited carrageenan‐induced paw edema, and down‐regulated cytokines such as COX‐2, IL‐6, and TNF‐α and inhibited i‐NOS mediated nitric oxide (NO) generation. | 33 | ||
| Gastro‐ protective activity | A crude methanolic extract (TM), essential oil (EO), petroleum ether soluble (PS) and insoluble (PI) fractions of methanolic extract, were studied in rats at doses of 100–500, 12.5–50, 12.5–150 and 450 mg kg−1, respectively for their ability to inhibit the gastric lesions induced by asprin, ethanol and pylorous ligature. In addition their effects on wall mucus and gastric acid output were recorded. All fractions (TM, EO, PS and PI) significantly inhibited gastric lesions | 34 | ||
| Asthma | The cardamom extract was then studied in isolated tracheal tissues, to elucidate the possible mode of bronchodilator action, where crude extract of cardamom caused relaxation of both carbachol and K+‐induced contractions, like verapamil, a Ca2+ antagonist. | 35 | ||
| Insecticidal activity | The volatile oil from cardamom acts as a potential grain protectant by killing various life stages of the stored product insects attacking wheat, e.g. Tribolium castaneum and Sitophilus zeamais; via contact and fumigant | 36, 37 | ||
| Action: Moreover, it also prevented eggs treated with the oil from developing to the adult stage. Cardamom oil dramatically suppressed egg hatching and larval survival of Tribolium castaneum, thus demonstrating its ovicidal properties. | ||||
| Cinnamon (bark) | Cinnamomum zeylanicum | Anti‐microbial activity | Cinnamomum zeylanicum extract demonstrated significant inhibition effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Entrobacter cloacae, Acinetobacter baumannii [minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) 0.4 mg mL−1] | 40 |
| Anti‐diabetic activity | The effect of cinnamon extract on glycosylated hemoglobin A1c and fasting blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes was analyzed. A total of 66 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited and randomly divided into three groups: placebo and low‐dose and high‐dose supplementation with cinnamon extract at 120 and 360 mg d−1, respectively. | 41 | ||
| Both hemoglobin A1c and fasting blood glucose levels were significantly reduced in patients in the low‐ and high‐dose groups, whereas they were not changed in the placebo group. Thus, significantly improving blood glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes. | ||||
| Cinnamon (bark) | Antioxidant activity | The volatile oil was screened for its potential as an antioxidant by using in vitro models, such as the β‐carotene‐linoleate and phosphomolybdenum complex method. The volatile oil showed 55.94% and 66.9% antioxidant activity at 100 and 200 ppm concentration, respectively. Also, the volatile oil showed good antioxidant capacity, using the formation of the phosphomolybdenum complex. | 42 | |
| Immuno‐modulatory activity | Cinnamon at high dose increases both cell mediated and humoral immunity and at low dose shows effect only on humoral immunity. Cinnamaldehyde is reported to inhibit lymphocyte proliferation and NF‐κ B stimulation. The results of the present study shows that cinnamon is a possible immune system booster. | 43 | ||
| Wound healing activity | The ethanol extract of the bark of C. zeylanicum was evaluated for wound healing activity in Wistar rats. The extract was administered by the oral route at a dose of 250 mg kg−1 and 500 mg kg−1 body weight. The extract significantly enhanced the wound breaking strength in the case of incision wound, the rate of wound contraction and the period of epithelization in the case of excision wound. | 44 | ||
| Clove (flower buds) | Syzygium aromaticum | Antioxidant activity | The antioxidant potential of clove is evaluated against copper induced lipid peroxidant, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazy (DPPH) free radical scavenging capability of methanol extract of clove is examined. The clove exhibited a concentration dependent antioxidant activity. Furthermore, 56% of DPPH free radicals were scavenged with extract equivalent to 100 μg clove. | 46 |
| Antibacterial activity | Antibacterial susceptibility assay shows promising evidence for the antibacterial effect of clove methanolic and ethanolic extract against three foods associated with Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methanolic extract of clove showed maximum zone of inhibition 24 mm against Staphylococcus aureus while minimum was 19 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Ethanolic extract of clove showed maximum zone of inhibition 20 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa while minimum was 18 mm against Escherichia coli. | 47 | ||
| Anti‐inflammatory activity | The current study clearly demonstrated anti‐inflammatory effect of clove essential oil in vivo, which equals to that of etodolac at 0.025 mL kg−1 and 0.100 mL kg−1 doses and to that of indomethacin at 0.050 mL kg−1 and 0.200 mL kg−1 doses. | 48 | ||
| Hair growth enhancer | Formulation containing clove oil was clinically evaluated on rats back compared with minoxidil standard lotion as a positive control and distilled water as a negative control. The selected formulation was demonstrated to condition hair with grooming and enhanced hair growth with longer lag time compared with minoxidil but after one week the hair growth accelerated. | 49 | ||
| Anti‐cancer activity | Significant reduction in the number of proliferating cells and an increased number of apoptotic cells was noted in these blood pressure‐induced lung lesions following clove treatment. | 50 | ||
|
Coriander (dried seeds) |
Coriandrum sativum |
Antioxidant activity | Three different bioassays were used, namely scavenging of the DPPH radical method, inhibition of 15‐lipoxygenase (15‐LO) and inhibition of Fe2+ induced porcine brain phospholipid peroxidation. Coriander leaves showed stronger antioxidant activity than the seeds, and in both parts of coriander, the ethyl acetate extract contributed to the strongest activity. | 52 |
| Anti‐diabetic activity | Coriander incorporated into the diet (62.5 g kg−1) and drinking water (2.5 g L−1, prepared by 15 min decoction) reduced hyperglycaemia of streptozotocin‐diabetic mice. Insulin secretion by hyperpolarized B‐cells (16.7 mm‐glucose, 25 mm‐KCl) was further enhanced by the presence of extract. | 53 | ||
| Anti‐bacterial activity | Coriander oil exhibited bactericidal activity against almost all bacteria tested, due to membrane permeability with the exception of Bacillus cereus and Enterococcus faecalis. | 54 | ||
|
Star anise (fruit) |
Illicium verum |
Anticancer activity | Diseases induced by free radicals and nicotine can be cured by star anise because it has anticarcinogenic agents. The anticancer action is because of flavonoids, resveratrol and curcumin. They additionally have exhibited remedial potential, including cell‐defensive anti‐inflammatory, and DNA protective properties. This spice also has positive effect on DNA damage, which can be a trigger for cancer, as well as on cancer cell migration. | 58 |
| Insecticidal activity | Insecticidal activity of star anise, the direct contact methods were applied against fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). (E)‐Anethole caused 80.3% mortality at 0.159 mg cm−2 at 1 and 3 days treatment in a filter paper diffusion method. Insecticidal properties have also been found in volatile oil of star anise against larva and adults of Tribolium castaneum, Botrytis cinerea and Callosobruchus chinensis. | 59, 60 | ||
| Anti‐inflammatory activity | Star anise anti‐inflammatory action was identified in mice by xylene‐induced auricle edema. The star anise extracts of 10 and 20 mg rough drugs mL−1, clearly decreased the contractility of mice intestinal smooth muscles in 15 min under the effect of acetylcholine and barium chloride. Therefore, it is concluded that aqueous extract of star anise has analgesic and anti‐inflammatory effects on mice intestinal smooth muscles. | 61 | ||
| Anti‐fungal activity | The anti‐fungal activity of star anise was tested against Fusarium solani and F. graminearum and F. oxysporum. Complete inhibition (100%) was examined by using 100 ppm concentration of star anise due to high antifungal action. The growth of F. verticillioides is also completely inhibited at 200 ppm concentration. | 62 | ||
| Fenugreek (leaves and seeds) | Trigonella foenum‐graecum | Anti‐inflammatory and anti‐arthritic activity | Anti‐inflammatory activity was noted with linolenic acid in various acute models involving carrageenan, prostaglanin E2, leukotrienes, and arachidonic acid‐induced inflammation signifying its ability to inhibit both cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways. Petroleum ether extract of fenugreek seeds show anti‐inflammatory and anti‐arthritic activities in all the models tested. | 63 |
| Fenugreek seed extract attenuated hyperglycaemia was investigated in vitro. FSE stimulated glucose uptake in CHO‐HIRc‐mycGLUT4eGFP cells in a dose‐dependent manner. This effect was shown to be mediated by the translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) from the intracellular space to the plasma membrane. | 64 | |||
| The seed extract exhibit scavenging of hydroxyl radical (OH‐) and inhibition of H2O2 induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver. The result shows that the extract of fenugreek seed contains antioxidant property. | 65 | |||
| The effect of fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum graecum) compared to omeprazole was studied on ethanol‐induced gastric ulcer. The soluble gel fraction derived from the seeds was more effective than omeprazole in preventing lesion formation. | 66 | |||
| Turmeric (rhizomes) | Curcuma longa | Anti‐ulcer activity | An ethanol extract of turmeric was studied in rats for its ability to inhibit gastric secretion and to protect gastroduodenal mucosa against the injuries caused by pyloric ligation. An oral dose of 500 mg kg−1 of the extract produced significant anti‐ulcerogenic activity in rats subjected to pyloruic ligation. | 68 |
| Anti‐fungal activity | In the experimental animals, turmeric oil (dilution 1:80) was applied by dermal application on the seventh day following dermatophytosis induction with Trichophyton rubrum. An improvement in lesions was observed in 2–5 days and the lesions disappeared 6–7 days after the application of turmeric oil. | 69 | ||
| Antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory activity | Turmeric oil was found to have in vitro antioxidant activity and the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) for scavenging superoxides, hydroxyl radicals, and lipid peroxidation were 135 μg mL−1, 200 μg mL−1, and 400 μg mL−1, respectively. Turmeric oil showed significant reduction in paw thickness in carrageenan, dextran‐induced acute inflammation, and formalin‐induced chronic inflammation. | 70 |