DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/f11070761
Eliana B. Souto 1,2,*, Alessandra Durazzo 3 , Amirhossein Nazhand 4, Massimo Lucarini 3, Massimo Zaccardelli 5, Selma B. Souto 6, Amelia M. Silva 7,8 , Patricia Severino 9,10,11 , Ettore Novellino 12 and Antonello Santini 12,*
1 Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Pólo das Ciências da Saúde, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, 3000-548 Coimbra, Portugal 2 CEB-Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal 3 CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Roma, Italy; alessandra.durazzo@crea.gov.it (A.D.); massimo.lucarini@crea.gov.it (M.L.) 4 Department of Biotechnology, Sari Agricultural Science and Natural Resource University, 9th km of Farah Abad Road, Sari 48181 68984, Mazandaran, Iran; nazhand.ah@gmail.com 5 CREA-Research Centre for Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, Via Cavalleggeri 25, 84098 Pontecagnano (Salerno), Italy; massimo.zaccardelli@crea.gov.it 6 Department of Endocrinology of Braga Hospital, Sete Fontes, 4710-243 São Victor, Braga, Portugal; sbsouto.md@gmail.com 7 Department of Biology and Environment, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, P-5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal; amsilva@utad.pt 8 Centre for Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal 9 Industrial Biotechnology Program, University of Tiradentes (UNIT), Av. Murilo Dantas 300, 49032-490 Aracaju, Brazil; pattypharma@gmail.com 10 Tiradentes Institute, 150 Mt Vernon St., Dorchester, MA 02125, USA 11 Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine (LNMED), Institute of Technology and Research (ITP), Av. Murilo Dantas, 300, 49010-390 Aracaju, Brazil 12 Department of Pharmacy, University of Napoli Federico II, Via D. Montesano 49, 80131 Napoli, Italy; ettore.novellino@unina.it * Correspondence: ebsouto@ff.uc.pt (E.B.S.); asantini@unina.it (A.S.); Tel.: +351-239-488-400 (E.B.S.); +39-81-253-9317 (A.S.)
Abstract
Medicinal plants are used worldwide due to their lower risk of side effects and eco-friendly, cost-effective production when compared to chemical drugs, encouraging researchers to further exploit the therapeutic potential of the former. One of the most popular medicinal plants is Vitex agnus-castus L.,grown in tropical and sub-tropical regions,to which different health benefits have already been attributed. In this perspective article, the in vitro and in vivo therapeutic properties of V. agnus-castus L. have been analyzed and reviewed with a special focus on its health-promoting effects and potential nutraceutical applications.
Keywords: chaste tree; Vitex agnus-castus L.; bioactive compounds; in vitro studies; in vivo studies; nutraceuticals; health-promoting properties.