The genus Ferula: ethnobotany, phytochemistry and bioactivities – A review

This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the medicinal, folkloric and traditional culinary uses of Ferula species, related products and extracts in different countries together with the description of recently isolated new components and the related bioactivities. The phytochemical composition of the essential oils (EOs), oleo-gum-resin (OGR) and the non-volatile fractions obtained from several endemic and indigenous Ferula species is also reported. A special emphasis is placed on their unusual components, i.e. sulfur-containing volatiles from the EOs and the new phytochemicals with mixed biogenetic origins. More than 180 chemical constituents (excluding common essential oils components), including sulfur-containing metabolites, terpenoids, coumarins, sesquiterpene coumarins, etc., as both aglycones and glycosides, are reported, along with their occurrence and biological activities when available. A large number of new secondary metabolites, belonging to different classes of natural products possessing interesting biological activities, from the antiproliferative to the anti-inflammatory to the neuroprotective ones, among the others, have been recently found in the Ferula genus. Several of these phytochemicals are exclusive to this genus; therefore may be considered chemotaxonomic markers. All these aspects are extensively discussed in this review.