Phytochemistry and Ethno-pharmacology of Lamiaceae

Lamiaceae is a family of plants included in the Angiosperms group comprising 7 sub-families, 16 tribes, 9 sub-tribes, 236 genera and more than 7000 species. It represents probably one of the most known and studied family from the phytochemical and ethnopharmacological standpoints. For what concerns phytochemistry, Lamiaceae can be divided into two big groups. The first one comprises all those species producing mainly volatile terpenoids, found prevalently in the essential oils, whereas the second one comprises species biosynthesizing mainly components of the polar fraction. Typical examples of the first class are Salvia L., Mentha L., Rosmarinus L. species while typical examples of the second class are Ajuga L., Teucrium L., Melittis L. and Stachys L. species. Several phytochemicals have been isolated from Lamiaceae species such as α and β-pinene, menthol and limonene in the essential oil, di and tri-terpenes, flavonoids and iridoids in the polar fraction. Some of these all are even considered to be chemotaxonomic markers of several genera of Lamiaceae. Also from the ethnopharmacological point of view, Lamiaceae is very important. In fact, the essential oils of these species are known to exert anti-bacterial and antioxidant properties while the polar compounds are known to exhibit anti-viral, anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities, instead. These things may explain and maybe justify the employments of Lamiaceae species in traditional medicine where, still nowadays, they are used to treat several disorders and ailments. Throughout the lecture, all of this will be discussed and widened also considering the very recent mind changes of the scientific community on specific species of this family like those belonging to the Ajuga and Tecurium genera which are now considered to be toxic due to the presence of particular secondary metabolites known as neo-clerodane diterpenoids, being indeed, responsible of this effect.